
CONSTITUTION 



-AND- 


SCHEDULE 


— OF THE — 



ADOPTED IN CONVENTION AT 




CHARLESTON, APRIL 9, 1872, 

































CONSTITUTION 


—AND— 


SCHEDULE 


—OF THE— 

STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA 



ADOPTED IN CONVENTION AT 


CHARLESTON, APRIL 9, 1872, 





* > > 


WHEELING: 

W, J..Johnston, Public Printer, 


'#«.-2 , 30 , ’!/. 

I 

,A Ls 


PROCLAMATION. 


BY THE GOVERNOR. 

I, John J. Jacob, Governor of the State of West Virginia, do issue 
my proclamation, and declare that the Honorable Samuel Price, Presi¬ 
dent of the Convention, which assembled at the seat of government 
on the third Tuesday in January last, “to consider, discuss, and pro¬ 
pose a new Constitution, or alterations and amendments to the exist¬ 
ing Constitution of this State,” has certified to me an accurate tran¬ 
script of the Constitution and Schedule adopted by the said Conven¬ 
tion, April ninth, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seven¬ 
ty-two, a copy of which Constitution and Schedule is hereto annexed. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the State to be affixed at Charleston, this tenth day 
[l. s.] of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
two, and of the State, the ninth. 

JOHN J. JACOB. 

By the Governor : 

John M. Phelps, 

Secretary of State. 


0. OF 0, 

APR LQ (914 



CONSTITUTION 


OF THE 

STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA. 


AETICLE I. 

RELATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

1. The State of West Virginia is, and shall remain, one of the United 
States of America. The Constitution of the United States of America, 
and the laws and treaties made in pursuance thereof, shall be the 
supreme law of the land. 

2. The government of the United States is a government of enum¬ 
erated powers, and all powers not delegated to it, nor inhibited to 
the States, are reserved to the States or to the people thereof. Among 
the powers so reserved by the States, is the exclusive regulation of 
their own internal government and police ; and it is the high and 
solemn duty of the several departments of government, created by 
this Constitution, to guard and protect the people of this State from 
all encroachments upon the rights so reserved. 

3. The provisions of the Constitution of the United States, and of 
this State, are operative alike in a period of war as in time of peace, 
and any departure therefrom, or violation thereof, under the plea of 
necessity, or any other plea, is subversive of good government, and 
tends to anarchy and despotism. 

4. For the election of representatives to Congress, the State shall be 
divided into districts, corresponding in number with the representa- 



4 


CONSTITUTION. 


tives to which it may be entitled; which districts shall be formed of 
contiguous counties, and be compact. Each district shall contain, as 
nearly as may be, an equal number of population, to be determined 
according to the rule prescribed in the Constitution of the United 
States. 


ARTICLE II.' 

THE STATE. 

1. The territory of the following counties, formerly parts of the 
Commonwealth of Virginia, shall constitute and form the State of 
West Virginia, viz: 

The counties of Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, 
Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Fayette, Grilmer, Grant, Greenbrier, Hamp¬ 
shire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, 
Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Mason, McDowell, Mer¬ 
cer, Mineral, Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan, Nicholas, Ohio, Pendle¬ 
ton, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Preston, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, 
Ritchie, Roane, Summers, Taylor, Tucker, Tyler, Upshur, Wayne, 
Webster, Wetzel, Wirt, Wood and Wyoming. The State of West Vir¬ 
ginia includes the bed, bank and shores of the Ohio river, and so 
much of the Big Sandy river as was formerly included in the Com¬ 
monwealth of Virginia ; and all territorial rights and property in, 
and jurisdiction over, the same, heretofore reserved by, and vested in, 
the Commonwealth of Virginia, are vested in, and shall hereafter be, 
exercised by the State of West Virginia. And such parts of the said 
beds, banks, and shores as lie opposite and adjoining the several 
counties of this State, shall form parts of said several counties re¬ 
spectively. 

2. The powers of government reside in all the citizens of the State, 
and can be rightfully exercised only in accordance with their will 
and appointment. 

3. All persons residing in this State, born or naturalized in the 
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, shall be citizens 
of this State. 



CONSTITUTION. 


5 


4. Every citizen shall be entitled to equal representation in the 
government, and, in all apportionments of representation, equality of 
numbers of those entitled thereto, shall, as far as practicable, be pre¬ 
served. 

5. No distinction shall be made between resident aliens and citizens 
as to the acquisition, tenure, disposition, or descent of property. 

6. Treason against the State, shall consist only in levying war 
against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and com¬ 
fort. 

No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of 
two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 
Treason shall be punished according to the character of the acts com¬ 
mitted, by the infliction of one, or more of the penalties, of death, im¬ 
prisonment or fine, as may be prescribed by law. 

7. The present seal of the State, with its motto, “Montani Semper 
Liberi” shall be the great seal of the State of West Virginia, and shall 
be kept by the Secretary of State, to be used by him officially, as di¬ 
rected by law. 

8. Writs, grants and commissions, issued under the authority of this 
State, shall run in the name of, and official bonds shall be made pay¬ 
able to the State o( West Virginia. Indictments shall conclude, 
“Against the peace and dignity of the Slate.” 


ABTICLE III. 

BILL OF RIGHTS, 

1. All men are, by nature, equally free and independent, and have 
certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of so¬ 
ciety, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity, 
namely: the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquir¬ 
ing and possessing property, and of pursuing andobtaining happiness 
and safety. 

2. All power is vested in, and consequently derived from the people. 
Magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable 
to them. 



6 


CONSTITUTION. 


3. Government is instituted for the common benefit, protection and 
security of the people, nation or community. Of all its various forms 
that is the best, which is capable of producing the greatest degree of 
happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the 
danger of mal administration ; and when any government shall be 
found independent or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the 
community has an indubitable, inalienable, and indefeasible right to 
reform, alter or abolish it in such manner as shall be judged most con¬ 
ducive to the public weal. 

4. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended. 
No person shall be held to answer for treason, felony or other crime 
not cognizable by a justice, unless on presentment or indictment of a 
grand jury. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing 
the obligation of a contract, shall be passed. 

5. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. Penalties shall be pro¬ 
portioned to the character and degree of the offense. No person shall 
be transported out of, or forced to leave the State, for any offense com¬ 
mitted within the same; nor shall any person, in any criminal case, 
be compelled to be a witness against himself, or be twice put in 
jeopardy of life or liberty for the same offense. 

6. The right of the citizens to be secure in their houses, persons, 
papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall 
not be violated. No warrant shall issue except upon probable cause 
supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to 
be searched, or the person or thing to be seized. 

7. No law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, shall be 
passed; but the Legislature may, by suitable penalties, restrain the 
publication or sale of obscene books, papers or pictures, and provide 
for the punishment of libel, and defamation of character, and for the 
recovery, in civil actions, by the aggrieved party, of suitable damages 
for such libel, or defamation. 

8. In prosecutions, and civil suits for libel, the truth may be given 
in evidence; and if it shall appear to the jury, that the matter charged 
as libelous, is true, and was published with gond motives, and for 
justifiable ends, the verdict shall be for the defendant. 

9. Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public use, 
without just compensation ; nor shall the same be taken by any com¬ 
pany, incorporated for the purpose of internal.improvement, until 


CONSTITUTION. 


7 


just compensation shall have been paid, or secured to be paid, to the 
owner; and when private property shall be taken, or damaged, for 
public use, or for the use of such corporations, the compensation to 
the owner shall be ascertained in such manner as may be prescribed 
by general law : Provided , That when required by either of the par¬ 
ties, such compensation shall be ascertained by an impartial jury of 
twelve freeholders. 

10. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, with¬ 
out due process of law, and the judgment of his peers. 

11. Political tests, requiring persons, as a prerequsite to the enjoy¬ 
ment of their civil and political rights, to purge themselves by their 
own oaths, of past alleged offenses, are repugnant to the principles of 
free government, and are cruel and oppressive. No religious or po¬ 
litical test oath shall be required as a prerequisite or qualification to 
vote, serve as a juror, sue, plead, appeal, or pursue any profession or 
employment. Nor shall any person bo deprivod by law, of any right 
or privilege, because of any act done prior to the passage of such law. 

12. Standing armies in time of peace, should be avoided, as dan¬ 
gerous to liberty. The military shall be subordinate to the civil 
power ; and no citizen, unless engaged in the military service of the 
State, shall be tried or punished by any military court, for any of¬ 
fense that is cognizable by the civil courts of.the State. No soldier 
shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the con¬ 
sent of the owner; nor in time of war, except in the manner to be 
prescribed by law. 

*13. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy, exclu" 
sive of interest and costs, exceeds twenty dollars, the right of trial by 
a jury of twelve men, if required by either party, shall be preserved ; 
except that in appeals from the judgment of justices, a jury of a less 
number may be authorized by law; but in trials of civil cases before 
a justice, no jury shall be allowed. No fact tried by a jury, shall, in 
any case, be otherwise re-examined, than according to the rules of 
the common law. 

14. Trials of crimes, and of misdemeanors, unless herein otherwise 
provided, shall be by a jury of twelve men, public, without unreason¬ 
able delay, and in the county where the alleged offense was commit¬ 
ted, unless upon petition of the accused, and for good cause shown, it 
is removed to some other county. In all such trials, the accused 
shall be fully and plainly informed of the character and cause of the 

*This section has been superseded by the second amendment. 


8 


CONSTITUTION. 


accusation, and be confronted with the witnesses against him, and 
shall have the assistance of counsel, and a reasonable time to prepare 
for his defense , and there shall be awarded to him, compulsory pro¬ 
cess for obtaining witnesses in his favor. 

15. No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious 
worship, place or ministry whatsoever; nor shall any man be enforced, 
restrained, molested or burthened, in his body or goods, or otherwise 
suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but all men shall 
be free to profess, and, by argument, to maintain their opinions in 
matters of religion ; and the same shall in nowise affect, diminish, 
or enlarge their civil capacities; and the Legislature shall not pre¬ 
scribe any religious test whatever, confer any peculiar privileges or 
advantages on any sect or denomination, or pass any law requiring 
or authorizing any religious society, or the people of any district 
within this State, to levy on themselves or others, any tax, for the 
erection or repair of any house for public worship, or for the support 
of any church or ministry, but it shall be left free for every person to 
select his religious instructor, and to make for his support, such pri¬ 
vate contract as he shall please. 

16. The right of the people to assemble in a peaceable manner to 
consult for the common good, to instruct their representatives, or to 
apply for redress of grievances, shall be held inviolate. 

17. The courts of this State shall be open, and every person for an 
injury done to him, in his person, property or reputation, shall have 
remedy by due course of law ; and justice shall be administered with¬ 
out sale, denial or delay. 

18. No conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of 
estate. 

19. No hereditary emoluments, honors or privileges, shall ever be 
granted or conferred in this State. 

20. Free government and the blessings of liberty can be preserved 
to any people, only by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, tem¬ 
perance, frugality and virtue, and by a frequent recurrence to fun¬ 
damental principles. 


ARTICLE IV. 

ELECTIONS AND OFFICERS. 

1. The male citizens of the State, shall he entitled to vote at all 



CONSTITUTION. 


9 


elections held within the counties, in which they respectively reside; 
but no person who is a minor; or of unsound mind, or a pauper, or 
who is under conviction of treason, felony, or bribery in an election, 
or who has not been a resident of the State lor one year; and of the 
county in which he offers to vote, for sixty days next preceding such 
offer, shall be permitted to vote, while such disability continues; but 
no person in the military, naval, or marine service of the United 
States, shall be deemed a resident of this State by reason of being sta¬ 
tioned therein. 

2. In all elections by the people, the mode of voting shall be by 
ballot; but the voter shall be left free to vote by either open, sealed 
or secret ballot, as he may elect. 

3. No voter, during the continuance of an election at which he is 
entitled to vote, or during the time necessary and convenient for going 
to, and returning from the same, shall be subject to arrest upon civil 
process, or be compelled to attend any court, or judicial proceeding, 
as suitor, juror or witness; or to work upon the public roads, or, ex¬ 
cept in time of war or public danger, to render military service. 

4. No person, except citizens entitled to vote, shall be elected or ap¬ 
pointed to any State, county, or municipal office; but the Governor 
and Judges, must have attained the age of thirty, and the Attorney 
General and Senators, the age of twenty-five years, at the beginning 
of their respective terms of service; and must have been citizens of 
the State, for five years next preceding their election, or appointment, 
or be citizens at the time this Constitution goes into operation. 

5. Every person elected, or appointed to any office, before proceed¬ 
ing to exercise the authority, or discharge the duties thereof, shall 
make oath, or affirmation, that he will support the Constitution of the 
United States and the Constitution of this State, and that he will faith¬ 
fully discharge the duties of his said office, to the best of his skill and 
judgment; and no other oath or declaration, or test, shall be required 
as a qualification, unless herein otherwise provided. 

6. All officers elected or appointed under this Constitution, may 
unless in cases herein otherwise provided for, be removed from office, 
for official misconduct, incompetency, neglect of duty, or gross immor¬ 
ality, in syich manner as may be prescribed by general laws, and un¬ 
less so removed, they shall continue to discharge the duties of their 
respective offices, until their successors are elected, or appointed and 

qualified. 

2 


10 


CONSTITUTION. 


7. The general elections ot State and county officers, and of mem¬ 
bers of the Legislature, shall be held on the second Tuesday of Octo¬ 
ber, until otherwise provided by law. The terms of such officers, not 
elected or appointed to fill a vacancy, shall unless herein .otherwise 
provided, begin on the first day of January, and of the members of the 
Legislature, on the first day of November, next succeeding their elec¬ 
tion. Elections to fill vacancies shall be for the unexpired term. 
When vacancies occur prior to any general election, they shall be filled 
by appointments in such manner as may be prescribed herein, or by 
general law, which appointments shall expire at such time after the 
next general election, as the person so elected to fill such vacancy 
shall be qualified. 

8. The Legislature, in cases not provided for in this Constitution, 
shall prescribe by general laws, the terms of office, powers, duties and 
compensation of all public officers and agents, and the manner in 
which they shall be elected, appointed, and removed. 

9. Any officer of the State, may be impeached for mal-administra¬ 
tion, corruption, incompetency, gross immorality, neglect of duty, or 
any high crimo of misdemeanor. The House of .Delegates shall have 
the sole power of impeachment. The Senate shall have the sole power 
to try impeachments, and no person shall be convicted without the 
concurrence of two-thirds of the members elected thereto. When sit¬ 
ting of a court of impeachment, the President of the Supreme Court 
of Appeals, or, if from any cause, it be improper for him to act, then 
any other judge of that court, to be designated by it, shall preside; 
and the Senators shall be on oath, or affirmation, to do justice accord¬ 
ing to law and evidence. Judgment in cases of impeachment, shall 
not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to 
hold any office of honor, trust, or profit, under the State; but the 
party convicted shall be liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and 
punishment, according to law. The Senate may sit during the recess 
of the Legislature, for the trial of impeachment. 

10. Any citizen of this State, who shall, after the adoption of this 
Constitution, either in or out of the State, fight a duel with deadly 
weapons, or send or accept a challenge so to do, or who shall act as a 
second, or knowingly aid or assist in such duel, shall, ever hereafter, 
be incapable of holding any office of honor, trust, or profit in this 
State. 

11. The Legislature shall prescribe the manner of conducting, and 
making returns of elections, and of determining contested elections ; 


CONSTITUTION. 


11 


and shall pass such law as may be necessary and proper to prevent 
intimidation, disorder, or* violence at the polls, and corruption or 
fraud in voting, counting the vote, ascertaining or declaring the re¬ 
sult, or fraud, in any manner, upon the ballot. 

* 

12. No citizen shall ever be denied or refused the right or privilege 
of voting at an election, because his name is not, or has not been reg¬ 
istered, or listed, as a qualified voter. 


ARTICLE Y. 

DIVISION OP POWERS. 

1. The Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Departments shall be 
separate and distinct, so that neither shall exercise the powers prop¬ 
erly belonging to either of the others; nor shall any person exercise 
the powers of more than one of them at the same time, except that 
Justices of the Peace shall be eligible to the Legislature. 


ARTICLE VI. 

LEGISLATURE. 

1. The legislative power shall be vested in a Senate and House of 
Delegates. The style of their acts shall be, “Be it enacted by the 
Legislature of West Virginia.” 

2. The Senate shall be composed of twenty-four, and the House of 
Delegates of sixty-five members, subject to be increased according to 
the provisions hereinafter contained. 

3. Senators shall be elected for the term of four years, and Dele¬ 
gates for the term of two years. The Senators first elected, shall di¬ 
vide themselves into two classes, one Senator from every district be¬ 
ing assigned to each class; and of these classes the first, to be desig¬ 
nated by lot in such manner as the Senate may determine, shall hold 
their seats for two years; and the second, for four years, so that 
after the first election, one-half of the Senators shall be elected bi¬ 
ennially. 

4. For the election of Senators the State shall be divided into twelve 
Senatorial Districts, which number shall not be diminished, but may 
he increased as hereinafter provided. Every district shall elect two 





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CONSTITUTION. 


Senators, but where the district is composed of more than one coun¬ 
ty, both shall not be chosen from the same county. The districts 
shall be compact, formed of contiguous territory, bounded by county 
lines, and, as nearly as practicable, equal in population, to be ascer¬ 
tained by the census of the United States. After every such census, 
the Legislature shall alter the Senatorial Districts, so far as may be 
necessary to make them conform to the foregoing provision. 

5. Until the Senatorial Districts shall be altered by the Legislature 
as herein prescribed, the counties of Hancock, Brooke and Ohio shall 
constitute the first Senatorial District; Marshall, Wetzel and Marion 
the second ; Eitchie, Doddridge, Harrison, Gilmer and Calhoun the 
third; Tyler, Pleasants, Wood and Wirt the fourth; Jackson, Mason, 
Putnam and Eoane the fifth ; Kanawha, Clay, Nicholas, Braxton 
and Webster the sixth; Cabell, Wayne, Lincoln, Boone, Logan, Wy¬ 
oming, McDowell and Mercer the seventh ; Monroe, Greenbrier, Sum¬ 
mers, Pocahontas, Fayette and Ealeighthe eighth ; Lewis, Eandolph, 
Upshur, Barbour* Taylor and Tucker the ninth ; Preston and Mon¬ 
ongalia the tenth ; Hampshire, Mineral, Hardy, Grant and Pendle¬ 
ton the eleventh ; Berkeley, Morgan and Jefferson the twelfth. 

6. For the election of Delegates, every county containing a popula¬ 
tion of less than three-fifths of the ratio of representation for the 
House of Delegates, shall at each apportionment be attached to some 
contiguous county, or counties, to form a Delegate District. 

7. After every census the Delegates shall be apportioned as follows : 
The ratio of representation for the House of Delegates shall be as¬ 
certained by dividing the whole population of the State, by the num¬ 
ber of which the House is to consist, and rejecting the fraction of a 
unit, if any, resulting from such division. Dividing the population 
of every Delegate District, and of every county not included in a 
Delegate District, by the ratio thus ascertained, there shall be as¬ 
signed to each a number of Delegates equal to the quotient obtained 
by this division, excluding the fractional remainder. The additional 
Delegates necessary to make up the number of which the House is to 
consist, shall then be assigned to those Delegate Districts and coun¬ 
ties not included in a Delegate District, which would otherwise have 
the largest fractions unrepresented ; but every Delegate District and 
county not included in a Delegate District, shall be entitled to at 
least one Delegate. 

8. Until a new apportionment shall be declared, the counties of 
Pleasants and Wood shall form the first delegate district, and elect 


CONSTITUTION. 


13 


three Delegates ; Ritchie and Calhoun, the second, and elect two Dele¬ 
gates ; Barbour, Harrison and Taylor, the third, and elect one Dele¬ 
gate; Randolph and Tucker, the fourth, and elect one Delegate; 
Nicholas, Clay and Webster, the fifth, and elect one Delegate; Mc¬ 
Dowell and Wyoming, the sixth, and elect one Delegate. 

3. Until a new apportionment shall be declared, the apportionment 
of Delegates to the counties not included in Delegate Districts, and to 
Barbour, Harrison and Taylor counties, embraced in such Districts 
shall be as follows : 

To Barbour, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, Doddridge, Fayette, 
Hampshire, Hancock, Jackson, Lewis, Logan, Greenbrier, Monroe, 
Mercer, Mineral, Morgan, Grant, Hardy, Lincoln Pendleton, Putnam, 
Roane, Gilmer, Taylor, Tyler, Upshur, Wayne, Wetzel, Wirt, Poca¬ 
hontas, Summers and Raleigh counties, one Delegate each. 

To Berkeley, Harrison, Jefferson, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Monon¬ 
galia and Preston counties, two Delegates each. 

To Kanawha county, three Delegates. 

To Ohio county, four Delegates. 

10. The arrangement of the Senatorial and Delegate Districts, and 
apportionment of Delegates, shall hereafter be declared by law, as 
soon as possible after each succeeding census, taken by authority of 
the United States. When so declared, they shall apply to the first 
general election for members of the Legislature, to be thereafter held, 
shall continue in force unchanged, until such District shall be alter¬ 
ed, and Delegates apportioned, under the succeeding census. 

11. Additional territory may be admitted into, and become part of 
this State, with the consent of the Legislature and a majority of the 
qualified voters of the State, voting on the question. And in such 
case, provision shall be made by law, for the representation thereof 
in the Senate and House of Delegates, in conformity with the prin¬ 
ciples set forth in this Constitution. And the number of members of 
which each House of the Legislature is to consist, shall thereafter be 
increased, by the representation assigned to such additional territory. 

12. No person shall be a Senator or Delogate, who has not for one 
year next preceding his election, been a resident within the District or 
county from which he is elected ; and if a Senator or Delegate remove 
from the District, or county, for which he was elected, his seat shall 
be thereby vacated. 


14 


CONSTITUTION. 


13. No person holding a lucrative office under this State, the United 
States, or any foreign government; no member of Congress; no per¬ 
son who is a salaried officer of any railroad company, or who is sheriff, 
constable, or clerk of any court of record, shall be eligible to a seatin 
the Legislature. 

14. No person who has been, or hereafter shall be, convicted of 
bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime, shall be eligible to a seatin 
the Legislature. No person who may have collected, or been en¬ 
trusted with public money, whether State, county, township, district, 
or other municipal organization, shall be eligible to the Legislature, 
or to any office of honor, trust, or profit in this State, until he shall 
have duly accounted for and paid over such money according to law. 

15. No Senator or Delegate, during theterm for which heshall have 
been elected, shall be elected or appointed to any civil office of profit 
under this State, which has been created, or the emoluments of which 
have been increased during such term, except offices to be filled by 
election by the people. Nor shall any member of the Legislature be 
interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract, with the State, or 
any county thereof, authorized by any law passed during the term for 
which he shall have been elected. 

16. Members of the Legislature, before they enter upon their duties, 
shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation : “ I do sol¬ 
emnly swear (or affirm), that I will support the Constitution of the 
United States, and the Constitution of the State of West Virginia, and 
faithfully discharge the duties of Senator (or Delegate), according to 
the best of my ability ; ” and they shall also take this further oath, to- 
wit: “ I will not accept or receive directly or indirectly, any money or 
other valuable thing, from any corporation, company, or person, for 
any vote or influence I may give or with hold, as Senator (or Delegate), 
on any bill, resolution or appropriation, or for any act I may do or 
perform as Senator (or Delegate).” These oaths shall be administered 
in the hall of the house to which the member is elected, by a Judge 
of the Supreme Court of Appeals, or of a Circuit Court, or by any 
other person authorized by law to administer an oath; and the Sec¬ 
retary of State shall record and file said oaths subscribed by each 
member; and no other oath or declaration shall be required as a qual¬ 
ification. Any member who shall refuse to take the oath herein pre¬ 
scribed, shall forfeit his seat; and any member, who shall be convicted 
of having violated the oath last above required to be taken, shall for¬ 
feit his seat, and be disqualified thereafter from holding any office of 
profit or trust in this State. 


CONSTITUTION. 


15 


J7. Members of the Legislature shall in all cases, except treason, 
felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the 
session, and for ten days before and after the same; and for words 
spoken in debate, or any report, motion or proposition, made in 
either House, a member shall not be questioned in any other place. 

18. The Legislature shall assemble at the seat of government bien¬ 
nially, and not oftencr, unless convoned by the Governor. The first 
session of the Legislature, after the adoption of this Constitution, 
shall commence on the third Tuesday of November, 1872 ; and the 
regular biennial session of tho Legislature shall commence on the 
second Wednesday of January, 1875, and every two years thereafter, 
on the same day. 

19. The Governor may convene the Legislature by proclamation 
whenever, in his opinion, the public safety or welfare shall require it. 
It shall be his duty to convene it, on application in writing, of three- 
fifths of the members elected to each House. 

20. The seat of government shall be at Charleston, until otherwise 
provided by law. 

21. The Governor may convene the Legislature at another place 
when in his opinion it cannot safely assemble at the seat of govern¬ 
ment ; and the Legislature may, when in session, adjourn to some 
other place, when in its opinion the public safety or welfare, or the 
safety of the members, or their health shall require it. 

22. No session of the Legislature, after the first, shall continue 
longer than forty-five days, without the concurrence of two-thirds of 
the members elected to each House. 

23. Neither House shall, during the session, adjourn for more than 
three days, without the consent of tho other. Nor shall either, with¬ 
out such consent, adjourn to any other place than that in which the 
Legislature is sitting. 

24. A majority of the members elected to each House of the Legis¬ 
lature shall constitute a quorum. But a smaller number may adjourn 
from day to day, and shall be authorized to compel the attendance of 
absent members, as each House may provide. Each House shall de¬ 
termine the rules of its proceeding, and be the judge of the elections, 
returns and qualifications of its own members. The Senate shall 
choose, from its own body, a President, and the House of Delegates, 
from its own body, a Speaker. Each House shall appoint its own offi¬ 
cers and remove them at pleasure. The oldest Delegate present, 


16 


CONSTITUTION. 


shall call the House to order, at the opening of each new House, of 
Delegates, and preside over it, until the Speaker thereof shall have 
been chosen, and have taken his seat. The oldest member of the Sen¬ 
ate present at the commencement of each regular session thereof, 
shall call the Senate to order, and preside over the same until a Pres¬ 
ident of the Senate shall have been chosen, and have taken his seat. 

25. Each House may punish its own members for disorderly be¬ 
havior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members elect¬ 
ed thereto, expel a member, but not twice for the same offense. 

26. Each House shall have power to provide for its own safety, and 
the undisturbed transaction of its business, and may punish by im¬ 
prisonment, any person not a member, for disrespectful behavior in 
its presence; for obstructing any of its proceedings, or any of its offi¬ 
cers in the discharge of his duties, or for any assault, threat or abuse 
of a member; for words spoken in debate. But such imprisonment 
shall not extend beyond the termination of the session, and shall not 
prevent the punishment of any offense, by the ordinary course of law. 

27. Laws shall be enacted and enforced, by suitable provisions and 
penalties, requiring sheriffs and all other officers, whether State, 
county, district or municipal, who shall collect or receive, or whose 
official duty it is, or shall be, to collect, receive, hold, or pay out any 
money .belonging to, or which is, or shall be, for the use of the State 
or of any county, district or municipal corporation, to make annual 
account and settlement therefor. Such settlement, when made, shall 
be subject to exceptions, and take such direction, and have only such 
force and effect as may be provided by law; but in all cases, such set¬ 
tlement shall be recorded, and be open to the examination of the peo¬ 
ple at such convenient place or places as may be appointed by law. 

28. Bills and resolutions may originate in either House, but maybe 
passed, amended or rejected by the other. 

29. Ho bill shall become a law until it has been fully and distinctly 
read, on three different days in each House, unless, in case of urgen¬ 
cy, by a vote of four-fifths of the members present, taken by yeas and 
nays on each bill, this rule be dispensed with. Provided , In all cases, 
that an engrossed bill shall be fully and distinctly read in each 
House. 

30. Ho act hereafter passed shall embrace more than one object, 
and that shall be expressed in the title. But if any object shall be 
embraced in an act, which is not so expressed, the act shall be void 
only as to so much thereof as shall not be so expressed, and no law 


CONSTITUTION. 


17 

shall be revived, or amended, by reference to its title only; but the law 
revived, or the section amended, shall be inserted at large, in the new 
act. And no act of the Legislature, except such as may be passed 
at the first session under this Constitution, shall take effect, until the 
expiration of ninety days after its passage, unless the Legislature shall, 
by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each House, taken 
by yeas and nays, otherwise direct. 

31. When a bill or joint resolution, passed by one House, shall be 
amended by the other, the question on agreeing to the bill or joint 
resolution, as amended, shall be again voted on, by yeas and nays, in 
the House by which it was originally passed, and the result entered 
upon its journals ; in all such cases, the affirmative vote of a majority 
of all the members elected to such House shall be necessary. 

32. Whenever the words, “a majority of the members elected to 
either House of the Legislature,” or words of like import are used in 
this Constitution, they shall be construed to mean a majority of the 
whole number of members to which each House is, at the time, en¬ 
titled, under the apportionment of representation, established by the 
provisions of this Constitution. 

33. The members of the Legislature shall each receive for their ser¬ 
vices, the sum of four dollars per day, and ten cents for each mile 
traveled in going to, and returning from the seat of government, by 
the most direct route. The Speaker of the House of Delegates, and 
the President of the Senate, shall each receive an additional compen¬ 
sation of two dollars per day for each day they shall act as presiding 
officers. No other allowance or emolument than that by this section 
provided, shall directly or indirectly be made or paid to the members 
of either House, for postage, stationery, newspapers, or any other 
purpose whatever. 

...... i 

34. The Legislature shall provide by law, that the fuel, stationery 
and printing paper, furnished for the use of the State; the copy¬ 
ing, printing, binding and distributing the laws and journals ; and all 
other printing ordered by the Legislature, shall be let by contract to 
the lowest responsible bidder; bidding under a maximum price to be 
fixed by the Legislature; and no member or officer thereof, or officer 
of the State, shall be interested, directly or indirectly, in such con¬ 
tract, but all such contracts shall be subject to the approval of the 
Governor, and in case of his disapproval of any such contract, there 
shall be a re-letting of the same in such manner as maybe prescribed 
by law. 

3 


CONSTITUTION. 


I* 

35. The State of West Virginia shall never be made defendant in 
any court of law or equity. 

36. The Legislature shall have no power to authorize lotteries, or 
gift enterprises, for any purpose, and shall pass laws to prohibit the 
sale of lottery, or gift enterprise tickets in this State. 

37. No law shall be passed after the election of any public officer, 
which shall operate to extend the term of his office. 

38. No extra compensation shall be granted or allowed to any pub¬ 
lic officer, agent, servant or contractor, after the services shall have 
been rendered or the contract made; nor shall any Legislature au¬ 
thorize the payment of any claim or part thereof, hereafter created 
against the State, under any agreement or contract made, without ex¬ 
press authority of law; and all such unauthorized agreements shall be 
null and void. Nor shall the salary of any public officer be increased, 
or diminished, during his term of office, nor shall any such officer, or 
his or their sureties, be released from any debt or liability due to the 
State. Provided , The Legislature may make appropriations for ex¬ 
penditures hereafter incurred, in suppressing insurrection, or repel¬ 
ling invasion. 

39. The Legislature shall not pass local or special laws, in any of 
the following enumerated cases; that is to say, for 

Granting divorces; 

Laying out, opening, altering and working roads or highways; 

Vacating roads, town plats, streets, alleys and public grounds ; 

Locating, or changing county seats; 

Regulating or changing county or district affairs ; 

Providing for the sale of church property, or property held for 
charitable uses; 

Regulating the practice in courts of justice ; 

Incorporating cities, towns or villages, or amending the charter of 
any city, town or village, containing a population of less than two 
thousand; 

Summoning or impaneling grand or petit juries ; 

The opening or conducting of any election, or designating the place 
of voting; 

The sale or mortgage of real estate, belonging to minors, or others 
under disability ; 

Chartering, licensing, or establishing ferries or toll bridges; 

Remitting fines, penalties or forfeitures ; 


CONSTITUTION. 


19 


Changing the law of descent; 

Regulating the rate of interest: 

Authorizing deeds to be made for land sold for taxes; 

Releasing taxes ; 

Releasing title to forfeited lands ; 

The Legislature shall provide, by general laws, for the foregoing 
and all other cases for which provision can be so made; and in no case 
shall a special act be passed, where a general law would be proper) 
and can be made applicable to the case, nor in any other case in which 
the courts have jurisdiction, and are competent to give the relief ask¬ 
ed for. 

40. The Legislature shall not confer upon any court, or judge, the 
power of appointment to office, further than the same is herein pro¬ 
vided for. 

41. Ilach Rouse shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and cause 
the same to be published from time to time, and all bills and joint re¬ 
solutions shall be described therein, as well by their title as their 
number, and the yeas and nays on any question, if called for by one- 
tenth of those present, shall be entered on the journal. 

42. Bill making appropriations for the pay of members and officers 
of the Legislature, and for salaries for the officers of the Government 
shall contain no-provision on any other subject. 

43. The Legislature shall never authorize or establish any board, 
or court of registration of voters. 

44. In all elections to office which may hereafter take place in the 
Legislature, or in any county, or municipal body, the vote shall be 
viva voce, and be entered on its journals. 

45. It shall be the duty of the Legislature, a! its first session after 
the adoption of this Constitution, to provide, by law, for the punish¬ 
ment by imprisonment in the penitentiary, of any person who shall 
bribe, or attempt to bribe, any executive or judicial officer of this 
State, or any member of the Legislature in order to influence him, in 
the performance of any of his official or public duties; and, also, to 
provide by law, for the punishment by imprisonment in the peniten¬ 
tiary, of any of said officers, or any member of tho Legislature, who 
shall demand, or receive, from any corporation, company, or person any 
money, testimonial, or other valuable thing, for the performance of 
bis official or public duties, or for refusing or failing to perform the 


CONSTITUTION. 


20 

same, or lor any vote or influence a member of the Legislature 
may give or withhold as such member; and, also, to provide by law, 
tor compelling any person, so bribing or attempting to bride, or so 
demanding, or receiving, a bribe, tee, reward, or testimonial, to tes¬ 
tify against any person or persons, who may have committed any of 
said offenses : Provided , That any person so compelled 10 testify, shall 
be exempted from trial and punishment for the offense of which, he 
may have been guilty, and concerning which he is compelled to tes¬ 
tify ; and any person convicted of any of the offenses specified in this 
section, shall as a part of the punishment thereof, be forever disqual¬ 
ified from holding any office, or position of honor, trust, or profit, in 
this State. 

46. Laws may be passed regulating or prohibiting the sale of in¬ 
toxicating liquors within the limits of this State. 

47. No charter of incorporation shall be granted to any church, or 
religious denomination. Provision may be made by general laws 
for securing the title to church property, and for the sale and trans¬ 
fer thereof, so that it shall be held, used, or transferred for the pur¬ 
poses of such church, or religious denomination. 

48. Any husband or parent, residing in this State, or the infant 
children of deceased parents, may hold a homestead of the value of 
one thousand dollars, and personal property to the value of two hun¬ 
dred dollars, exempt from forced sale subject to such regulations as 
shall be prescribed by law: Provided\ That such homestead exemption 
shall in nowise affect debts or liabilities existing at the time of the 
adoption of this Constitution : And provided further , That no prop¬ 
erty shall be exempt from sale for taxes due thereon, or for the pay¬ 
ment of purchase money due upon said property, or for debts con¬ 
tracted for the erection of improvements thereon. 

49. The Legislature shall pass such laws as may be necessary to 
protect the property of married women from the debts, liabilities, 
and control of their husbands. 

50. The Legislature may provide for submitting to a vote of the 
people at the general election to be held in 1876, or at any general 
election thereafter, a plan or scheme of proportional representation 
in the Senate of this State; and if a majority of the votes cast at such 
election be in favor of the plan submitted to them, the Legislature 
shall at its session succeeding said election, re-arrange the Senatorial 
Districts in accordance with the plan so approved by the people. 


CONSTITUTION. 


21 


ARTICLE VII. 

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 

1. the Executive Department shall consist of a Governor, Secre¬ 
tary of State, State Superintendent of Free Schools, Auditor, Treas¬ 
urer, and Attorney General, who shall be, ex-officio Reporter of the 
Court of Appeals. Their terms of office, respectively, shall be four 
years, and shall commence on the fourth day of March, next after 
their election. They shall, except the Attorney General, reside at 
the seat of government during their terms ol office, and keep there 
the public records, books and papers, pertaining to their respective 
offices and shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by law. 

ELECTION. 

2. An election for Governor, State Superintendent of Free Schools, 
Auditor, Treasurer and Attorney General, shall be held at such times 
and place as may be prescribed in this Constitution, or by general 
law. 

3. The returns of every election for the above named officers, shall 
be sealed up and transmitted by the returning officers, to the Secre¬ 
tary of State, directed to “Speaker of the House of Delegates” who 
shall, immediately after the organization of the House and before pro¬ 
ceeding to business, open and publish the same, in the presence of a 
majority of each House of the Legislature, which shall, for that pur¬ 
pose, assemble in the Hall of the House of Delegates. The person 
having the highest number of votes for either of said offices, shall be 
declared duly elected thereto; but if two or more have an equal and 
the highest number of votes for the same office, the Legislature shall 
by joint vote, choose one of such persons for said office. Contested 
elections for the office of Governor shall be determined by both 
Houses of the Legislature, by joint vote, in such manner as may be 
prescribed by law. The Secretary of State shall be appointed by the 
Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and 
shall continue in office, unless sooner removed, until the expiration 
of the official term of the Governor, by whom he shall have been ap¬ 
pointed. 

ELIGIBILITY. 

4. Neither the Governor, State Superintendent of Free Schools, 
Auditor, Treasurer, nor Attorney General, shall hold any other office 
during the term of his service. The Governor shall be ineligible to 
said office for the four years next succeeding the term for which he 
was elected. 




22 


CONSTITUTION. 


5. The chief executive power shall be vested in the Governor, who 
shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. 

6. The Governor shall, at the commencement of each session, give 
to the Legislature information, by message, of the condition of the 
State, and shall recommend such measures as he shall deem expedi¬ 
ent. He shall accompany his message with a statement of all money 
received and paid out by him from any funds, subject to his order, 
with vouchers therefor; and, at the commencement of each regular 
session, present estimates of the amount of money required by taxa¬ 
tion for all purposes. 

7. The Governor may. on extraordinary occasions, convene, at his 
own instance, the Legislature; but when so convened, it shall enter 
upon no business except that stated in the proclamation by which it 
was called together. 

8. The Governor shall nominate, and by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, (a majority of all the Senators elected concur¬ 
ring by yeas and nays), appoiut all officers whose offices are estab¬ 
lished by this Constitution, or shall be created by law, and whose ap¬ 
pointment or election is not otherwise provided for; and no such 
officers shall be appointed or elected by the Legislature. 

9. In case of a vacancy, during the recess of the Senate, in any 
office which is not elective, the Governor shall, by appointment, fill 
such vacancy until the next meeting of the Senate, when he shall 
make a nomination for such office, and the person so nominated, when 
confirmed by the Senate, (a majority of all the Senators elected con¬ 
curring by yeas and nays), shall hold his office during the remainder 
of the term and until his successor shall be appointjd and qualified. 
No person, after being rejected by the Senate, shall be again nomina¬ 
ted for the same office duriug the same session, unless at the request 
of the Senate ; nor shall such person be appointed to the same office 
during the recess of the Senate. 

10. The Governor shall have power to remove any officer whom he 
may appoint in case of incompetency, neglect of duty, gross immor¬ 
ality, or malfeasance in office ; and he may declare his office vacant, 
and fill the same, as herein provided in other cases of vacancy. 

11. The Governor shall have power to remit fines and penalties, in 
such cases and under such regulations, as may be prescribed by law ; 
to commute capital punishment, and, except where the prosecution 
has been carried on by the House of Delegates, to grant reprieves 


CONSTITUTION. 


23 


and pardons, after conviction; but he shall communicate to the Leg¬ 
islature, at each session, the particulars of every case of fine or pen¬ 
alty remitted, of punishment commuted, and of reprieve or pardon 
granted, with his reasons therefor. 

12: The Governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military 
forces of the State, (except where they shall be called into the service 
of the United States), and may call out the same to execute the laws, 
suppress insurrection, and repel invasion. 

13. When any State officer has executed his official bond, the Gov¬ 
ernor shall, for such causes, and in such manner as the^Legislature 
may direct, require of such officer reasonable additional security; and 
if the security is not given as required, his office shall be declared 
vacant, in such manner as may be provided by law. 

14. Every bill passed by the Legislature shall, before it becomes a 
law, be presented to the Governor. If he approve he shall sign it, 
and thereupon it shall become a law; but if not, he shall return it, 
with his objections, to the House in which it originated, which House 
shall enter the objections at large upon its journal, and proceed to re¬ 
consider it. If, after such reconsideration, a majority of the members 
elected to the House agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together 
with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall, likewise, be 
reconsidered, and if approved by a majority of the members elected 
to that House, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the objections 
of the Governor. But in all such cases, the vote of each House shall 
be determined by yeas and nays, to be entered on the journal. Any 
bill, which shall not be returned by the Governor within five days 
(Sunday excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, shall be 
a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature 
shall, by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall 
be filed, with his objections, in the office of the Secretary of State, 
within five days after such adjournment, or become a law. 

15. Every bill passed by the Legislature, making appropriations of 
money, embracing distinct items, shall, before it becomes a law, be 
presented to the Governor; if he disapprove the bill, or any item or 
appropriation therein contained, he shall communicate such disap¬ 
proval, with his reasons therefor, to the House in which the bill orig¬ 
inated, but all items not disapproved shall have the force and effect 
of law, according to the original provisions of the bill. Any item, or 
items, so disapproved shall be void, unless repassed by a majority of 




24 


CONSTITUTION. 


each House, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the 
preceding section in reference to other bills. 

16. In case of the death, conviction on impeachment, failure to 
qualify, resignation, or other disability of the Governor, the Presi¬ 
dent of the Senate shall act as Governor until the vacancy is filled, 
or the disability removed; and if the President of the Senate, for any 
of the above named causes, shall become incapable of performing the 
duties of Governor, the same shall devolve upon the Speaker of the 
House of Delegates; and in all other cases, where there is no one to 
act as Governor, one shall be chosen by joint vote of the Legislature. 
Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of Governor, before the 
first three years of the term shall have expired, a new election for 
Governor shall take place to fill the vacancy. 

17. If the office of Auditor, Treasurer, State Superintendent of 
Free Schools, or Attorney General, shall become vacant by death, 
resignation, or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the Governor to fill 
the same by appointment, and the appointee shall hold his office until 
his successor shall be elected and qualified, in such manner as may be 
provided by law. 

The subordinate officers of the Executive Department, and the offi¬ 
cers of all public institutions of the State, shall keep an account of 
all moneys received or disbursed by them respectively from all 
sources, and for every service performed, and make semi-annual re¬ 
port thereof to the Governor, under oath or affirmation; and any 
officer who shall wilfully make a false report, shall be deemed guilty 
of perjury. 

18. The subordinate officers of the Executive Department, and the 
officers of all the public institutions of the State shall, at least ten 
days preceding each regular session of the Legislature, severally re¬ 
port to the Governor, who shall transmit such reporf to the Legisla¬ 
ture ; and the Governor may at any time require information in 
writing, under oath, from the officers of his department, and all offi¬ 
cers and managers of State institutions upon any subject relating to 
the condition, management, and expenses of their respective offices. 

19. The Governor shall receive for his services a salary of twenty- 
seven hundred dollars per annum, and no additional emolument, 
allowance or perquisite shall be paid or made to him on any ac¬ 
count. Any person acting as Governor shall receive the emoluments 
of that office. The Secretary of State shall receive one thousand ; 
the State Superintendent of Free Schools, fifteen hundred; theTreas- 



CONSTITUTION. 


25 


urer, fourteen hundred; the Auditor, two thousand; and the Attorney 
General, thirteen hundred dollars per annum; and no additional 
emolument or allowance, except as herein otherwise provided, shall be 
paid or made out of the treasury of the State to any of the loregoing 
executive officers, on any account. 


*ARTICLE VIII. 

JUDICIARY DEPARTMENT. 

1. The Judicial powers shall be vested in a Supreme Court of Ap¬ 
peals, and in Circuit Courts, and the Judges thereof; in County and 
Corporation Courts, and Justices of the Peace. 

SUPREME COURT OP APPEALS. 

2. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall consist of four Judges, any 
three of whom shall be a quorum. They shall be elected by the vo¬ 
ters of the State, and shall hold their office for the term of twelve 
years, unless sooner removed in the manner prescribed by this Con¬ 
stitution ; except, that of those first elected, two to be designated by 
lot in such manner as they may determine and in the presence of the 
Governor, shall hold their offices for four years; a third, to be desig¬ 
nated in like manner, for eight years, and the fourth, for twelve 
years; so that one or more shall be elected every four years. 

3. It shall have original jurisdiction in cases of habeas corpus, man¬ 
damus, and prohibition. It shall have appellate jurisdiction in civil 
cases, where the matter in controversy, exclusive of costs, is of greater 
value, or amount than one hundred dollars, in controversies con¬ 
cerning the title or boundaries of land, the probate of wills, the appoint¬ 
ment or qualification of a personal representative, guardian, commit¬ 
tee, or curator; or concerning a mill, road, way, ferry landing; or 
the right of a corporation, or county to levy tolls, or taxes; and, also 
in cases of quo warranto, habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition, and 
in cases involving freedom, or the constitutionality of a law. It 
shall have appellate jurisdiction, in criminal cases, where there has 
been a conviction for felony, or misdemeanor, in a Circuit Court, and 
where a conviction has been had in any inferior court, and been 
affirmed in a Circuit Court. 

*This article has been superseded by the 1st amendment. 

4 




26 


CONSTITUTION. 


4. No decision rendered by the Supreme Court of Appeals, shall 
be considered as binding authority upon an} 7- of the inferior courts of 
this State, except in the particular case decided, unless such decision 
is concurred in by at least three judges of said court. 

5. When a judgment, or decree is reversed, or affirmed, by the Su- 
preme Court of Appeals, every point fairly arising upon the record 
of the case, shall be considered, and decided ; and the reasons therefor 
shall be concisely stated in writing, and preserved with the record of 
the case; and it shall be the duty of the Court to prepare a syllabus 
of the points adjudicated in each case concurred in by three of the 
judges thereof, which shall be prefixed to the published reports of the 
case. 

6. A writ of error, supersedeas or appeal shall be allowed only by 
the Supreme Court of Appeals, or a Judge thereof, or by a Judge of 
a Circuit Court, upon a petition assigning error in the judgment 
or proceedings of the inferior court, and then only after the said 
Court or Judge shall have examined, and considered the record and 
assignment of errors, and is satisfied, that there is error in the same, 
or that it presents a point, proper for the consideration of the Court 
of Appeals. 

7. If a vacancy shall occur in said Court, from any cause, the Gov¬ 
ernor shall issue a writ of election, to fill such vacancy for the resi¬ 
due of the term. Provided , That if the unexpired term, be less than 
two years, the Governor shall appoint a Judge to fill such vacancy. 

•8. The officers of the Supreme Court of Appeals, except the Re¬ 
porter, shall be appointed by the Court, or. in vacation, by the Judges 
thereof, with the power of removal; their duties and compensation 
shall be prescribed by law. 

9. There shall be at least two terms of the Court of Appeals held 
annually, at such times and places as may be prescribed by law. 

CIRCUIT COURTS. 

10. The State shall be divided into nine Circuits; for each Circuit 
a Judge shall be elected by the voters thereof, who shall hold his office 
for the term of eight years, unless sooner removed in the manner 
prescribed by this Constitution. 

During his cpntinuance in office, he shall reside in the Circuit of 
which he is Judge. 

11. A Circuit Court shall be held in every county, twice a year- 
But provisions may be made by law for special terms; and a judge of 
any Circuit may hold the Court, in another Circuit, 


CONSTITUTION. 


27 


12. The Circuit Courts shall have the supervision of all proceedings 
before the County Courts, and other inferior tribunals, by mandamus , 
prohibition , or certiorari. They shall, except in cases confided by this 
Constitution exclusively to some other tribunal, have original and 
general jurisdiction of all matters at law, where the amount in con¬ 
troversy, exclusively of interest, exceeds fifty dollars; in cases of quo 
warranto , habeas corpus , mandamus or prohibition ; and in all cases of 
equity, and of all felonies, and misdemeanors. They shall have appel¬ 
late jurisdiction, upon petition and assignment of error, in all cases 
of judgments, decrees, and final orders, rendered by the County Court, 
and such other inferior courts of record as may be hereafter estab¬ 
lished by law under the provisions of this article, where the matter in 
controversy, exclusive of costs, is of greater value or amount, than 
twenty dollars; in controversies respecting the title, or boundaries of 
land; the probate of wills, the appointment, or qualification of a per¬ 
sonal representative, guardian, committee, or curator ; or concerning 
a mill, road, way, ferry, or landing, or the right of a corporation, or 
county to levy tolls, or taxes; and also in cases of habeas corpus , quo 
warranto, mandamus , prohibition , and certiorari, and in cases involving 
freedom, or the constitutionality of a law; and in all cases of convic¬ 
tion under criminal prosecutions in said court. It shall have such 
other original jurisdiction as may be prescribed by law. 

13. The Legislature may authorize by general law, any indictment 
for a misdemeanor found by the grand jury of any Circuit Court, to 
be certified by said Court to the County Court of the county in which 
the indictment shall be found, for further proceedings to be had there¬ 
on, in such manner, and under such regulations, as may be prescribed 
by law. 

14. The State shall be arranged into the following Circuits:—The 
counties of Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, and Marshall, shall constitute the 
First Circuit; the counties of Wetzel, Marion, Monongalia, Taylor, 
Doddridge and Harrison, the Second; the counties of Jefferson, 
Berkeley and Morgan, the Third ; the counties of Hampshire, Miner¬ 
al, Grant, Hardy and Pendleton, the Fourth; the counties of Ty¬ 
ler, Pleasants, Bitchie, Wood, Wirt and Calhoun, the Fifth ; the coun¬ 
ties of Bandolph, Tucker, Barbour, Lewis, Webster, Gilmer, Preston 
and Upshur, the Sixth; the counties of Jackson, Boane, Putnam, 
Kanawha and Mason, the Seventh; the counties of Greenbrier, Mon¬ 
roe, Fayette, Summers, Clay, Nicholas, Pocahontas and Braxton, the 
Eighth ; and the counties of Cabell, Wayne, Lincoln, Boone, Logan, 
Wyoming, Mercer, Baleigh and McDowell, the Ninth. 



CONSTITUTION. 


28 

15. The Legislature may, after the expiration of five years from 
the time this Constitution goes into operation, re-arrange the Circuits, 
but the number of Circuits shall not then be increased; and no re¬ 
arrangement of the Circuits shall have the effect of removing a Judge 
trom office. After the census of 1880, it may increase the number of 
Circuits, so as not to exceed ono Circuit for every fifty-five thousand 
inhabitants of the State. 

16. The Legislature shall provide by law for holding Circuit Courts 
where, from any cause, the Judge shall fail to attend, or if in atten¬ 
dance, cannot properly preside. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

17. All judges shall be commissioned by the Governor. The salary 
of the Judges of the Court of Appeals shall be twenty-two hundred 
and fifty dollars per annum; and that of Judges of the Circuit Court 
shall be two thousand dollars ; and each shall receive the same allow¬ 
ance for necessary travel, as members of the Legislature. No Judge, 
during his term of office, shall practice the profession of law, or hold 
any other office, appointment, or public trust, under this, or any other 
government, and the acceptance thereof shall vacate his judicial office; 
nor shall he, during his continuance therein, be eligible to any polit¬ 
ical office. 

18. Judges may be removed from office by a concurrent vote of 
both Houses of the Legislature, where from age, disease, or mental or 
bodily infirmity, they are incapable of discharging the duties of their 
offices. But two-thirds of the members elected to each House, must 
concur in such vote; and the cause of removal shall be entered upon 
the journal of each House. The Judge, against whom the Legislature 
may be about to proceed, shall receive notice thereof, accompanied 
with the cause alleged of his removal, at least twenty days before the 
day on which either House of the Legislature shall act thereupon. 

19. The voters of each county shall elect a Clerk of the Circuit 
Court, whose term of office shall be six years; his duties and compen¬ 
sation, and the mode of removing him from office, shall be prescribed 
by law; and when a vacancy shall occur in the office, the Judge of the 
Circuit Court shall appoint a clerk, who shall discharge the duties of 
the office, until the vacancy shall be filled by election. In any case in 
respect to which the clerk shall be so situated as to make it improper 
for him to act, the Court shall appoint a substitute. 

20. The Clerks of the Circuit Courts, and the Clerk of the Supreme 
Court of Appeals, shall, under such regulations as may be prescribed 


CONSTITUTION. 


29 


by law, make an annual report to the Auditor, exhibiting the number 
of suits commenced, pending, and decided in their respective Courts, 
and the number of days the Courts were in session during the year, 
which shall be condensed by said Auditor, and made a part of his an¬ 
nual report to the Legislature. 

21. Wherever the Legislature is expressly prohibited by this Con¬ 
stitution from doing any particular act, and the same shall be done, 
in violation of such prohibition, it shall be the duty of the Courts, 
upon a proper case presented before them, to declare such act null 
and void. 

22. The Legislature may establish courts of limited jurisdiction 
within any incorporated town or city, subject to such appeal as now 
is, or may hereafter be prescribed by law. 

COUNTY COURTS. 

23. There shall be in each county of the State, a County Court, 
which shall be composed of a President and two Justices of the Peace, 
except when, by this Constitution, the presence of a greater number 
is required. It shall hold six sessions during the year, at times to be 
prescribed by law; two of which shall be limited to matters connected 
with the police and fiscal affairs of the county ; the other four shall be 
held for the trial of causes, and for the transaction of all other busi¬ 
ness within the general jurisdiction of the Court, except an assess¬ 
ment or levy upon the property of the county. In all cases where a 
levy of the county is laid, a majority of all the Justices elected in the 
county, shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction 
of that business. 

24. The President of the Court shall be elected by the voters of the 
county, and shall hold his office for the term of four years. It shall 
be his duty to attend each term of the said Court, and he shall re¬ 
ceive for such service, four dollars for every day he presides in Court, 
to be paid from the county treasury. He shall also perform such 
other duties, and receive such compensation therefor, as may be pre¬ 
scribed by law ; except that he shall not be authorized to try causes 
out of Court. When from any cause he is unable to attend as Presi¬ 
dent of the Court, any Justice may be added to make the Court, who, 
in conjunction with the other two, may designate one their own 
number to preside in his absence. 

25. Each county shall be laid off into districts, not less in number 
than three, nor more than ten, as nearly equal as may be in territory 



30 


CONSTITUTION. 


and population. In each district there shall be elected by the voters 
thereof, one, and not more than two Justices of the Peace, who shall 
reside in their respective districts, and hold their office for the term 
of four years. 

The present sub-divisions of the counties by townships, shall con¬ 
stitute such districts until changed by a court constituted of a major¬ 
ity of the Justices of the county. 

26. The Justices of the Peace shall be classified bylaw, for the per¬ 
formance of their duties in Court; .they shall receive a compensation 
of three dollars per day, for their services in Court, to be paid out of 
the county treasury, and they may receive fees for other official duties, 
to be prescribed by law, and paid by the parties for whom the service 
shall be rendered. 

27. The County Court shall have original jurisdiction, in all actions 
at law, where the amount in controversy exceeds twenty dollars; and 
also in cases of habeas corpus, quo warranto, mandamus , prohibition , 
certiorari , and in all suits in equity. It shall have jurisdiction in all 
matters of probate ; the appointment and qualification of personal rep¬ 
resentatives, guardians, committees and curators, and the settlement 
of their accounts, and in all matters relating to apprentices ; and of all 
criminal cases under the grade of felony, except as hereinbefore pro¬ 
vided. But the jurisdiction of the county court shall be subject to 
such limitations as may be prescribed by law. The shall have the 
custody, through their clerks, of all wills, deeds, and other papers pre¬ 
sented for probate or record in said county, which shall be disposed 
of, or preserved, as required by law. 

28. It shall also have the superintendence and administration of the 
internal police and fiscal affairs of the county, including the establish¬ 
ment and regulation of roads, ways, bridges, public landing, ferries, 
and mills, with authority to lay, and disburse the county levies : Pro¬ 
vided, that no license shall be granted in any city, town, or village 
without the consent of the authorities of the same first had and ob¬ 
tained. It shall, in all contested cases, judge of the election, qualifi¬ 
cation and returns of its own members, and of all county and district 
officers ; and it shall exercise such other jurisdiction, and perform 
such other duties, as may be prescribed by law. Nothing in this ar¬ 
ticle shall impair, or affect the charter of any municipal corporation. 

29. The County Court shall have jurisdiction of all appeals from 
the judgment of the Justices, and their decision upon such appeal 
shall be final in all cases, except such as involve the title, right of pos- 


CONSTITUTION. 


31 


sessioD, or boundaries of lands, the freedom of a person, the validity 
of a law, or an ordinance of any corporation, or the right of a cor¬ 
poration to levy tolls or taxes. 

No Judge or Justice shall sit in an appellate court in review of a 
decision made by him. 

30. The voters of each county shall elect a Clerk of the County 
Court, whose term of office shall be six years, and whose duties, com¬ 
pensation and mode of removal shall be prescribed by law. 

31. Provisions may be made under such regulations as may be pre¬ 
scribed by law, for the probate of wills, and for the appointment and 
qualification of personal representatives, guardians, committees and 
curators, during the recess of the regular sessions of the County 
Court. 

32. A vacancy in the office of the President of the Court shall be 
filled, until the next regular election, by the Justices, all of whom 
shall be summoned for that purpose. Vacancies in the office of Jus¬ 
tice of the Peace may be filled, until the next regular election, by the 
County Court. 

33. The civil jurisdiction of a Justice of the Peace, shall extend to 
actions of assumpsit, debt, detinue, and trover, if the amount claimed, 
exclusive of interest, does not exceed one hundred dollars; but where 
the amount claimed, shall exceed twenty dollars, on the application of 
the defendant, either in person or by counsel, made at any time before 
trial, it shall be the duty of the Justice of the Peace to transmit the 
papers in the case to the Clerk of the County Court, to be therein 
tried. The jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace shall extend through¬ 
out their county; they shall be conservators of the peace, and have 
such jurisdiction and powers in criminal cases as may be prescribed 
by law. And Justices of the Peace shall have authority to take the 
acknowledgment of deeds, and other writings, administer oaths, and 
take and certify depositions. Aud the Legislature may give to Jus¬ 
tices, such additional civil jurisdiction and powers within their re¬ 
spective counties, as may be deemed expedient, under such regulations 
and restrictions, as may be prescribed by general law; except that in 
suits to recover money, or damages, their jurisdiction and powers 
shall, in no case, exceed one hundred dollars. 

34. The Legislature shall, upon the application of any county, re¬ 
form, modify, or alter the County Court established by this Constitu¬ 
tion, in such county, and in lieu thereof, with the assent of a majority 
of the voters of said county, voting at any election»held for that pur- 




32 


CONSTITUTION. 


pose, create another court, or other tribunals, as well for judicial as 
for police and fiscal purposes, either separate, or combined, which 
shall conform to the wishes of the county making the application, but 
with the same powers and jurisdiction herein conferred upon the 
County Court, and with compensation to be made from the county 
treasury. 

If two or more adjoining counties shall prefer to unite in the elec¬ 
tion of a Judge to hold a County Court, in their respective counties, 
they shall, with the assent of a majority of the voters of each of said 
counties, be authorized, for all the purposes of judicial organization, 
to do so in the manner and upon the terms above set forth. Provided , 
that the courts so created shall, in their provisions, be made to con¬ 
form to the policy of the State, as prescribed in this Constitution. 

35. ISTo citizen of this State who aided or participated in the late war 
between the Grovernment of the United States and a part of the peo¬ 
ple thereof, on either side, shall be liable in any proceeding, civil or 
criminal; nor shall his property be seized or sold under final process, 
issued upon judgments, or decrees heretofore rendered, or otherwise, 
because of any act done according to the usages of civilized warfare, 
in the prosecution of said war, by either of the parties thereto. 

The Legislature shall provide, by general law, for giving lull force 
and effect to this section, by due process of law. 

36. Such parts of the common law, and of the laws of this State, as 
are in force when this Constitution goes into operation, and are not 
repugnant thereto, shall be, and continue, the law of the State until 
altered or repealed by the Legislature. All civil and criminal suits and 
proceedings pending in the former Circuit Courts of this State, shall 
remain, and be proceeded in before the Circuit Court of the proper 
county. 


ARTICLE IX. 

COUNTY ORGANIZATION. 

1. The voters of each county shall elect a Surveyor of Lands, a 
Prosecuting Attorney, a Sheriff, and one, and not more than two As¬ 
sessors, who shall hold their respective offices for the term of four 
years. • 



constitution. 


33 


2. There shall also be elected in each district of the county, by the 
voters thereof, one constable, and if the population of any district 
shall exceed twelve hundred, an additional constable, whose term ot 
office shall be four years, and whose powers as such shall extend 
throughout their county. The assessor shall, with the advice and 
consent of the County Court, have the power to appoint one or more 
assistants. Coroners, overseers of the poor, and surveyors of roads 
shall be appointed by the County Court. The foregoing officers, ex¬ 
cept the Prosecuting Attorneys, shall reside in the county and district 
for which they shall be respectively elected. 

3. The same person shall not be elected Sheriff for two consecutive 
full terms ; nor shall any person who acted as his deputy be elected 
successor to such Sheriff, nor shall any Sheriff act as deputy of his 
successor; nor shall he, during his term of service, or within one year 
thereafter, be eligible to any other office. The retiring Sheriff shall 
finish all business remaining in his hands, at the expiration of his 
term ; for which purpose his commission and official bond shall remain 
in force. The duties of the office of Sheriff shall be performed by 
him, in person, or under his superintendence. 

4. The Presidents of the County Courts, the Justices of the Peace, 
Sheriffs, Prosecuting Attorneys, Clerks of the Circuit and of the 
County Courts, and all other county officers, shall be subject to indict¬ 
ment for malfeasance, misfeasance, or neglect of official duty, and 
upon conviction thereof, their offices shall become vacant. 

5. The Legislature shall provide for commissioning such of the 
officers herein mentioned as it may deem proper, not provided for in 
this Constitution, and may require any class of them to give bond 
with security, for the faithful discharge of the duties of their respective 
offices. 

6. It shall further provide for the compensation, the duties and re¬ 
sponsibilities of such officers, and may provide for the appointment 
of their deputies and assistants by general laws. 

7. The President of the County Court, and every Justice and Con¬ 
stable shall be a conservator of the peace throughout his county. 

8. No new county shall hereafter be formed in this State, with an 
area of less than four hundred square miles; nor with a population of 
less than six thousand ; nor shall any county; from which a new coun¬ 
ty, or part thereof shall be taken, be reduced in area below four hun¬ 
dred square miles, nor in population, below six thousand. Nor shall 




34 


CONSTITUTION. 


any new county be formed without the consent of a majority of the 
voters residing within the boundaries of the proposed new county, 
and voting on the question. 


ARTICLE X. 

TAXATION AND FINANCE. 

1. Taxation shall be equal and uniform throughout the State, and 
all property, both real and personal, shall be taxed in proportion to 
its value, to be ascertained as directed by law. No one species of 
property, from which a tax may be collected, shall be taxed higher 
than any other species of property of equal value ; but property used 
for educational, literary, scientific, religious or charitable purposes; 
all cemeteries and public property, may, by law, be exempted from tax¬ 
ation. The Legislature shall have power to tax by uniform and equal 
laws, all privileges and franchise of persons and corporations. 

2. The Legislature shall levy an annual capitation tax of one dol¬ 
lar upon each male inhabitant of the State, who has attained the age 
of twenty-one years, which shall be annually appropriated to the sup¬ 
port of free schools. Persons afflicted with bodily infirmity may be 
exempted from this tax. 

3. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in pursuance of 
an appropriation made, by law, and on a warrant issued thereon by 
the Auditor; nor shall any money, or fund, be taken for any other 
purpose than that for which it has been, or may be, appropriated, or 
provided. A complete and detailed statement of the receipts and ex¬ 
penditures of the public moneys, shall be published annually. 

4. No debt shall be contracted by this State, except to meet casual 
deficits in the revenue, to redeem a previous liability of the State, to 
suppress insurrection, repel invasion, or defend the State in time of 
war; but the payment of any liability, other than that for the ordi¬ 
nary expenses of the State, shall be equally distributed over a period 
of at least twenty years. 

5. The power of taxation of the Legislature shall extend to pro¬ 
visions for the payment of the State debt, and interest thereon, the 
support of Free Schools, and the payment of the annual estimated ex- 



CONSTITUTION. 


35 


penses of the State ; but whenever any deficiency in the revenue shall 
exist in any year, it shall, at the regular session thereof held next 
after the deficiency occurs, levy a tax for the ensuing year, sufficient, 
with the other sources of income, to meet such deficiency, as well as 
the estimated expenses of such year. 

6. The credit of the State shall not be granted to, or in aid of any 
county, city, township, corporation, or person ; nor shall the State 
ever assume, or become responsible for the debts, or liabilities, of any 
county, city, town, township, corporation, or person; nor shall the 
State ever hereafter become a joint owner, or stockholder in any com¬ 
pany, or association, in this State or elsewhere, formed for any pur¬ 
pose whatever. 

7. County authorities shall never assess taxes, in any one year, the 
aggregate of which shall exceed ninety-five cents per hundred dol¬ 
lars valuation, except for the support of Free Schools; payment of 
indebtedness existing at the time of the adoption of this Constitution; 
and for the payment of any indebtedness with the interest thereon, 
created under the succeeding section, unless such assessment, with all 
questions involving the increase of such aggregate, shall have been 
submitted to the vote of the people of the county, and have received 
three-fifths of all the votes cast for and against it. 

8 No county, city, school district, or municipal corporation, except 
in cases where such corporations have already authorized their bonds 
to be issued, shall hereafter be allowed to become indebted, in any 
manner, or for any purpose, to an amount, including existing indebt¬ 
edness, in the aggregate, exceeding five per centum on the value of 
the taxable property therein to be ascertained by the last assessment 
for State and county taxes, previous to the incurring of such indebt¬ 
edness ; nor without, at the same time, providing for the collection of a 
direct annual tax, sufficient to pay, annually, the interest on such 
debt, and the principal thereof within, and not exceeding thirty-four 
years: Provided , That no debt shall be contracted under this section, 
unless all questions connected with the same, shall have been first 
submitted to a vote of the people, and received three-fifths of all the 
votes cast for and against the same. 

9. The Legislature may, by law, authorize the corporate authorities 
of cities, towns, and villages, for corporate purposes, to assess and 
collect taxes; but such taxes shall be uniform, with respect to persons 
and property within the jurisdiction of the authority imposing the 
same. 



36 


CONSTITUTION. 


ARTICLE XI. 

CORPORATIONS. 

1. The Legislature shall provide for the organization of all corpor¬ 
ations hereafter to be created, by general laws, uniform as to the class 
to which they relate; but no corporation shall be created by special 
law : Provided , That nothing in this section contained, shall prevent 
the Legislature from providing bv special laws for the connection, by 
canal, of the waters of the Chesapeake with the Ohio river, by line 
of the James river, Greenbrier, New river, and Great Kanawha. 

2. Stockholders of all corporations, and joint stock companies, ex¬ 
cept banks and banking • institutions, created by laws of this State, 
shall be liable for the indebtedness of such corporations to the amount 
of their stock subscribed and unpaid, and no more. 

3. All existing charters or grants of special or exclusive privileges, 
under which organization shall not have taken place, or which shall 
not have been in operation within two years from the time this Con¬ 
stitution takes effect, shall thereafter have no validity or effect what¬ 
ever: Provided, That nothing herein shall prevent the execution of 
any bona fide contract heretofore lawfully made in relation to any 
existing charter or grant in this State. 

4. The Legislature shall provide by law, that in all elections for 
directors or managers of incorporated companies, every stockholder 
shall have the right to vote, in person, or by proxy, for the number 
of shares of stock owned by him, for as many persons as there are di¬ 
rectors or managers to be elected, or to cumulate said shares, and 
give one candidate as many votes as the number of directors multi¬ 
plied by the number of his shares of stock, shall equal, or to distribute 
them on the same principle among as many candidates as he shall 
think fit; and such directors or managers shall not be elected in any 
other manner. 

5. No law shall be passed by the Legislature, granting the right to 
construct and operate a street railroad within any city, town, or in¬ 
corporated village, without requiring the consent of the local author¬ 
ities having the control of the street or highway, proposed to be oc¬ 
cupied by such street railroad. 


BANKS. 


6. The Legislature may provide, by a general banking law, for* the 
creation and organization of banks of issue or circulation, but the 


CONSTITUTION. 


37 


stockholders of any bank hereafter authorized by laws of this State, 
whether of issue, deposit, or discount, shall be personally liable to the 
creditors thereof, over and above the amount of stock held by them 
respectively, to an amount equal to their respective shares so held, 
for all its liabilities accruing while they are such stockholders. 

RAILROADS. 

7. Every railroad corporation, organized or doing business in this 
State, shall annually, by their proper officers, make a report under 
oath, to the Auditor ot public accounts ot this State, or some officer 
to be designated by law, setting forth the condition ot their affairs, the 
operations of the year, and such other matters relating to their re¬ 
spective railroads as may be prescribed by law. The Legislature shall 
pass laws, enforcing by suitable penalties, the provisions of this 
section. 

8. The rolling stock, and all other movable property, belonging to 
any railroad company or corporation in this State, shall be considered 
personal property, and shall be liable to execution and sale, in the 
same manner as the personal property of individuals; and the Leg¬ 
islature shall pass no law exempting any such property from execu¬ 
tion and sale. 

9. Eailroads heretofore constructed, or that may hereafter be con¬ 
structed in this State, are hereby declared public highways, and shall 
be free to all persons for the transportation of their persons and prop¬ 
erty thereon, under such regulations as shall be prescribed by law ; 
and the Legislature shall, from time to time, pass laws applicable to 
all railroad corporations in the State, establishing reasonable maxi¬ 
mum rates of charges for the transportation of passengers and 
freights, and providing for the correction of abuses, the prevention of 
unjust discriminations between through and local or way freight and 
passenger tariffs, and for the protection of the just rights of the 
public and shall enforce such laws by adequate penalties. 

10. The Legislature shall, in the law regulating railway companies 
require railroads running through, or within a half mile ot a town or 
village containing three hundred or more inhabitants, to establish 
stations for the accommodation ot trade and travel of said town or 
village. 

11. No railroad corporation shall consolidate its stock, property or 
franchise, with any other railroad, owning a parallel or competing 
line, or obtain the possession or control of such parallel or competing 



38 


CONSTITUTION. 


line by lease or other contract, without the permission of the Legis¬ 
lature. 

12. The exercise of the power and the right of eminent domain, 
shall never be so construed, or abridged, as to prevent the taking, by 
the Legislature, of the property and franchises of incorporated com¬ 
panies, already organized, and subjecting them to the public use, the 
same, as of individuals. 


ARTICLE XXL 

EDUCATION. 

1. The Legislature shall provide, by general law, for a thorough 
and efficient system of Free Schools. 

2. The State Superintendent of Free Schools shall have a general 
supervision of Free Schools, and perform such other duties in relation 
thereto as may be prescribed by law. it in the performance of any 
such duty imposed upon him by the Legislature, he shall incur any 
expenses, he shall be reimbursed therefor. Provided , The amount 
does not exceed five hundred dollars in any one year. 

3. The Legislature may provide for County Superintendents, and 
such other officers as may be necessary to carry out the objects of this 
xlrticle, and define their duties, powers and compensation. 

4. The existing permanent and invested school fund, and all money 
accruing to this State from forfeited, delinquent, waste and unappro¬ 
priated lands; and from lands heretofore sold for taxes and purchased 
by the State of Virginia, if hereafter redeemed, or sold to others than 
this State ; all grants, devises or bequests that may be made to this 
State for the purposes of education, or where the purposes of such 
grants, devises or bequests are not specified, this State’s just share of 
the literary fund of Virginia, wnether paid over or otherwise liqui¬ 
dated ; and any sums of money, stocks, or property, which this State 
shall have the right to claim from the State of Virginia for educational 
purposes; the proceeds of the estates of persons who may die without 
leaving a will or heir, and all escheated lauds ; the proceeds of any 
taxes that may be levied on the revenues of any corporation; all 
moneys that may be paid as an equivalent for exemption from military 
duty; and such sums as may, from time to time, be appropriated by 



CONSTITUTION. 


39 


the Legislature for the purpose, shall be set apart as a separate fund 
to be called the “School Fund,” and invested under such regulation 
as may be prescribed by law, in the interest bearing securities of the 
United States, or of this State, or if such interest bearing securities 
cannot be obtained, then said “School Fund” shall be invested in such 
other solvent interest bearing securities as shall be approved by the 
Governor, Superintendent of Free Schools, Auditor and Treasurer, 
who are hereby constituted the “Board of the School Fund,” to 
manage the same, under such regulations as may be prescribed by 
law; and the interest thereof shall be annually applied to the sup¬ 
port of Free Schools throughout the State, and to no other pur¬ 
pose whatever. But any portion of said interest remaining unex¬ 
pended at the close of a fiscal year, shall be added to, and remain a 
part of, the capital of the “ School Fund :” Provided , That all taxes 
which shall be received by the State upon delinquent lands, except 
the taxes due to the State thereon, shall be refunded to the county, or 
district by or for which the same were levied. 

5. The Legislature shall provide for the support of Free Schools, 
by appropriating thereto the interest of the invested “ School Fund,” 
the net proceeds of all forfeitures and fines accruing to this State 
under the laws thereof; the State capitation tax; and by general 
taxation on persons and property or otherwise. It shall also provide 
for raising, in each county or district, by the authority of the people 
thereof, such a proportion of the amount required for the support of 
Free Schools therein as shall be prescribed by general laws. 

6. The school district into which any county is now divided, shall 
continue until changed in pursuance of law. 

7. All levies that may be laid by any county or district for the pur¬ 
pose of Free Schools, shall be reported to the Clerk of the County 
Court, and shall, under such regulations as may be prescribed bylaw, 
be collected by the Sheriff, or other collector, who shall make annual 
settlement with the County Court; which settlements shall be made 
a matter of record by the Clerk thereof, in a book to be kept for that 
purpose. 

8. White and colored persons shall not be taught in the same 
school. 

9. No person connected with the free school system of the State, 
or with any educational institution of any name, or grade under State 
control, shall be interested in the sale, proceeds or profits of any 
book or other thing used, or to be used therein, under such penalties 




40 


CONSTITUTION. 


as may be prescribed by law : Provided, That nothing herein shall be 
construed to apply to any work written, or thing invented, by such 
person. 

10. No independent free school district, or organization shall here¬ 
after be created, except with the consent of the school district or dis¬ 
tricts out of which the same is to be created, expressed by a majority 
of the voters voting on the question. 

11. No appropriation shall hereafter be made to any State Normal 
School, or branch thereof, except to those already established, and in 
operation, or now chartered. 

12. The Legislature shall foster and encourage moral, intellectual, 
scientific and agricultural improvement; it shall, whenever it may be 
practicable, make suitable provision for the blind, mute and insane, 
and for the organization of such institutions of learning as the best 
interests of general education in the State may demand. 


AETICLE XIII. 

LAND TITLES. 

1. All private rights and interests in lands in this State derived 
from or under the laws of the State of Virginia, and from or under 
the Constitution and laws of this State prior to the time this Consti¬ 
tution goes into operation, shall remain valid and secure, and shall be 
determined by the laws in force in Virginia, prior to the formation of 
this State, and by the Constitution and laws in force in this State, 
prior to the time this Constitution goes into effect. 

2. No entry by warrant on land in this State shall hereafter be 
made. 

3. All title to lands in this State, heretofore forfeited, or treated as 
forfeited, waste and unappropriated, or escheated to the State of Vir¬ 
ginia, or this State, or purchased by either of said States at sales made 
for the non-payment of taxes and become irredeemable, or hereafter 
forfeited or treated as forfeited or escheated to this State, or purchased 
by it and become irredeemable, not redeemed, released or otherwise 
disposed of, vested and remaining in this State, shall be, and is here¬ 
by transferred to and vested in any person (other than those for whose 




CONSTITUTION, 


41 


default the same may have been forfeited or returned delinquent, their 
heirs or devisees), for so much thereof as such person has, or shall 
have had actual continuous possesion of, under color or claim of title 
for ten years, and who, or those under whom he claims, shall have 
paid the State taxes thereon, for any five years during such posses¬ 
sion ; or if there be no such person, then to any person (other than 
those for whose default the same may have been forfeited or returned 
delinquent, their heirs or devisees), for so much of said land as such 
person shall have title or claim to, regularly derived, mediately or im¬ 
mediately from, or under a grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia, 
or this State, not forfeited, which but for the title forfeited would be 
valid, and who, or those under whom he claims, has, or shall have 
paid all State taxes charged or chargeable thereon for five successive 
years, after the year 1865, or from the date of the grant, if it shall 
have issued since that year ; or if there be no such person, as afore¬ 
said, then to any person, (other than those for whose default the same 
may have been forfeited or returned delinquent, their heirs or de¬ 
visees), for so much of said land as such person shall have had claim 
to and actual continuous possession of, under color of title for any 
five successive years after the year 1865, and have paid all State taxes 
charged or chargeable thereon for said period. 

4. All lands in this State, waste and unappropriated, or heretofore 
or hereafter for any cause forfeited, or treated as forfeited, or escheat¬ 
ed to the State of Virginia, or this State, or purchased by either and 
become irredeemable, not redeemed, released, transferred or other¬ 
wise disposed of, the title whereto shall remain in this State till such 
sale as hereinafter mentioned be made, shall by proceedings in the 
Circuit Court of the county in which the lands, or a part thereof, are 
situated, be sold to the highest bidder. 

5. The former owner of any such land, shall be entitled to receive 
the excess of the sum for which the land may be sold over the taxes 
charged and chargeable thereon, or which, if the land had not been 
forfeited, would have been charged or chargeable thereon, since the 
formation of this State, with interest at the rate of twelve per centum 
per annum, and the costs of the proceedings, if his claim be filed in 
the Circuit Court that decrees the sale, within two years thereafter. 

6. It shall be the duty of every owner of land to have it entered 
on the land books of the county in which it, or a part of it is situated 
and to cause himself to be charged with the taxes thereon, and pay 
the same. When for any five successive years after the year 1869, 
the owner of any tract of land containing one thousand acres or 




42 


CONSTITUTION. 


more, shall not have been charged on such books with State tax on 
said land, then by operation hereof, the land shall be forfeited and 
the title thereto vest in the Stato. But if for any one or more of 
such five years, the owner shall have been charged with Stato tax on 
any part of the land, such part thereof shall not be forfeited for such 
cause. And any owner of land so forfeited, or of any interest there¬ 
in at the time of the forfeiture thereof, who shall then be an infant, 
married woman, or insane person, may, until the expiration of three 
years after the removal of such disability, have the land, or such in¬ 
terest charged on such books, with all State and other taxes that shall 
be, and but for the forfeiture would be, chargeable on the land, or in¬ 
terest therein for the year 1863, and every year thereafter with inter¬ 
est at the rate of ten per centum per annum ; and pay all taxes and 
interest thereon for all such years, and thereby redeem the land, or 
interest therein. Provided , Such right to redeem, shall in no case ex¬ 
tend beyond twenty years from the time such land was forfeited. 


ARTICLE XIV. 

AMENDMENTS. 

1. No Convention shall be called, having the authority to alter the 
Constitution of the State, unless it be in pursuance of a law, passed 
by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members elected to each 
House of the Legislature and providing that polls shall be opened 
throughout the State, on the same day therein specified, which shall 
not be less than three months after the passage of such law, for the 
purpose of taking the sense of the voters on the question of calling a 
Convention. And such Convention shall not be held unless a majori¬ 
ty of the votes cast at such polls be in favor of calling the same ; nor 
shall the members be elected to such Convention, until, at least, one 
month after the result of the vote shall be duly ascertained, declared 
and published. And all acts and ordinances of the said Convention, 
shall be submitted to the voters of the State, for ratification or rejec¬ 
tion, and shall have no validity whatever until they are ratified. 

2. Any amendment to the Constitution of the State may be pro¬ 
posed in either House of the Legislature; and if the same, being read 
on three several days in each House, be agreed to on its third read¬ 
ing, by two-thirds of the members elected thereto, the proposed 
amendment, with the yeas and nays thereon, shall be entered on the 



CONSTITUTION. 


43 


journals, and it shall be the duty of the Legislature to provide by 
law, for submitting the same, to the voters of the State, for ratifica¬ 
tion or rejection at the next general election thereafter, and cause the 
same to be published, at least three months before such election, in 
some newspaper in every county in which a newspaper is printed. 
And if a majority of the qualified voters, voting on the question at 
the polls held pursuant to such law, ratify the proposed amendment, 
it shall be in force from the time of such ratification, as part of the 
Constitution of the State. If two or more amendments be submit¬ 
ted at the same time, the vote on the ratification or rejection shall be 
taken on each separately. 










SCHEDULE. 


1. It shall be the duty of the President of this Convention, imme¬ 
diately after its adjournment, to certify to the Governor of the State 
of West Virginia, an accurate transcript of the Constitution and 
Schedule adopted by the Convention. 

2. Upon the receipt of such certified transcript, the Governor shall 
make proclamation of that fact, and shall annex to his proclamatiou 
a copy of this Constitution and Schedule, all of which shall be pub¬ 
lished, for the general information of the people, in such manner as 
he shall deem most expedient. 

3. The officers authorized by existing laws to conduct general elec¬ 
tions, shall cause elections to be held at the several places of voting, 
established by law in each county, on the fourth Thursday of August, 
1872, at which election the votes of all persons qualified to vote under 
the existing Constitution, and offering to vote, shall be taken upon 
the question of ratifying or rejecting this Constitution and Schedule. 
Such votes shall be by ballot. The person voting for the ratification 
of the Constitution and Schedule, shall have written or printed upon 
his ballot the words, “For .Ratification and the person voting 
against ratification shall have written or printed upon his ballot, the 
words, “ For Bejection.” 

4. The said election shall be conducted in all things according to 
the provisions of the Code of West Virginia, and the amendments 
thereto governing elections, except as herein otherwise provided. 




46 


CONSTITUTION. 


5. The Supervisors of each county shall assemble on the fifth day 
(Sunday excepted) after the said election, and proceed to ascertain 
0he result of the same in the manner prescribed by the sixty-second 
section of the third chapter of the Code of West Virginia ; and it 
shall be their duty to certify the result, without delay, to the Govern¬ 
or, stating in their certificates the number of votes given in their re¬ 
spective counties for ratification of the Constitution and Schedule, 
and the number given for rejection. 

6. It shall be the duty of the Governor, upon receiving the said 
certificates, or a sufficient number thereof to enable him to ascertain 
the general result, to declare by proclamation the aggregate vote in 
the State for and against the ratification of the Constitution and Sched¬ 
ule; and if it shall appear from the said proclamation that a majority 
of votes cast are in favor of their ratification, this Constitution and 
Schedule shall be operative and in full force from and including the 
fourth Thursday of August, 1872. 

7. On the same day, and under the superintendence of the officers 
who shall conduct the election for determining the ratification or re¬ 
jection of the Constitution and Schedule, elections shall be held at the 
several places of voting in each county, for Senators and members of 
the House of Delegates, and all officers, executive, judicial, county or 
district, required by this Constitution to be elected by the people. 
Such elections shall be by ballot, and the results thereof shall be as¬ 
certained, determined and certified according to the provisions and 
requirements of existing laws; except that the returns of the elections 
of Governor, State Superintendent of Free Schools, Auditor, Treas¬ 
urer, and Attorney General, shall be transmitted to the Secretary of 
State, sealed and addressed to the “ Speaker of the House of Dele¬ 
gates.” 

8. In elections of county officers, required to be elected by districts, 
the existing sub-divisions by townships in each county, shall consti¬ 
tute such districts, until others shall be established. 

9. Each county shall elect one Assessor for each assessment district 
as now established by law; but at the election to be held under the 
provisions of this Schedule, in counties entitled to two Assessors, both 
shall be elected by the voters of the entire county. 

10. At the election to be held under this Schedule, there shall also 
be elected in each district constituted as hereinbefore stated, as many 
Justices and Constables as are now authorized by law. 

11. If this Constitution shall be ratified by the people, the Legisla- 





CONSTITUTION. 


47 


ture elected under the Schedule, shall assemble at the seat of govern¬ 
ment on the third Tuesday in November, 1872; and the electi'-of 
members of the Legislature, under this Constitution, shall vacate the 
seats of those elected under the present Constitution. The term of 
service of the Delegates first elected to the Legislature under this 
Constitution, shall expire on the first day of November, 1874 ; and 
the term of service of the Senators shall expire as follows : The 
term of first class, on the first day of November, 1874, and the term 
of the second class, on the first day of November, 1876. 

12. The terms of office of the Governor, the State Superintendent 
of Free Schools, the Auditor, Treasurer and Attorney General, elect¬ 
ed under this Schedule, shall commence on the fourth day of March, 
1873. The Governor, the State Superintendent of Free Schools, the 
Auditor, Treasurer, Attorney General and Secretary of State, and 
their successors elected under the existing Constitution and laws, shall 
continue in office untii their successors, elected or appointed under 
this Constitution and Schedule, shall be qualified. The terms of 
office of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals, of the Judges 
of the Circuit Courts, and of all county and district officers, whose 
election is provided for by this Schedule, shall commence on the first 
day of January, 1873; and the preseut Judges of the Supreme Court 
of Appeals, and of the Circuits Courts, and their successors who may 
be appointed under the present Constitution and laws, shall remain 
in office until the date last aforesaid. The Recorders and Supervisors 
of the several counties shall continue in office, and exercise their 
functions under the existing Constitution and laws, until the first day 
of January, 1873. And all officers named in this section, elected un¬ 
der the provisions of the existing Constitution and laws, shall, until 
their terms expire as herein provided, receive such compensation as 
said Constitution and laws prescribe. 

13. The Municipal Court of Wheeling shall continue in existence, 
and exercise its present jurisdiction until otherwise provided by law. 

14. All the books, records, papers, seals and other property now in 
the custody and under the control of the Board of Supervisors and 
Recorders of the several counties, and records, books, papers, seals 
and other property of the former County Courts, now in the custody 
of the Clerks of the Circuit Courts, shall be transferred on the first 
day of January, 1873, or as soon thereafter as may be, to the Clerks 
of the County Courts in their respective counties, and remain in 
their custody until otherwise prescribed by law. 


48 


CONSTITUTION. 


15. Justices, Assessors and all other county officers, except Sheriffs 
Constables, shall on the first day of January, 1873, or as soon 

thereafter as may be, transfer to their successors in office, all official 
books, records, papers, and property in their possession ; and in cases 
where, from the abolition of any office, or from any other cause, a 
doubt sliall arise as to the officer entitled to receive them, they shall 
be delivered to the Clerk of the County Court for preservation, until 
disposition be made of them by that Court. 

16. All county, township, district and other officers connected with 
the existing system of free schools shall continue to perform the du¬ 
ties of their respective offices, as now prescribed by law, until their 
successors shall have been elected and qualified as the Legislature 
may provide. 

17. The records, books, papers, seals and other property, and ap¬ 
purtenances of the existing Supreme Court of Appeals, shall, on the 
first day of January, 1873, or as soon thereafter as may be, be trans¬ 
ferred to, and remain in, the care and custody of the Supreme Court 
of Appeals established by this Constitution, until otherwise provided 
by law; and all civil or criminal causes, petitions, and other proceed¬ 
ings, then pending in the Supreme Court of Appeals, shall be pro¬ 
ceeded with in the Supreme Court of Appeals established by this Con¬ 
stitution, to final judgment. The records, books, papers, seals, and 
other property and appurtenances of the existing Circuit Courts, in 
this State, shall then also be transferred to, and remain in the care 
and custody of the Circuit Courts established by this Constitution, 
until otherwise provided by law; to which courts all process out¬ 
standing, at the time this Constitution shall go into effect, shall be re¬ 
turned, and by which all new process, proper in cases either pending 
or determined in existing Circuit Courts, may be issued. And all 
indictments, prosecutions, suits, pleas, petitions, and other proceed¬ 
ings pending in the present Circuit Court of any county, shall be 
prosecuted in the Circuit Court established in that county by this 
Constitution, to final judgment and execution; except, that all pend¬ 
ing appeals from justices may be transferred to the County Court or¬ 
ganized in such county. 

18. Copies and transcripts of the records and proceedings of the 
present Circuit Courts, shall be made and certified by the Circuit 
Courts established by this Constitution, or the proper officers thereof, 
and shall have the same force and effect as if they had been hereto¬ 
fore properly made and certified by the existing courts, or their prop¬ 
er officers. 


CONSTITUTION. 


49 


19. Kecognizances, bonds, obligations, and all undertakings entered 
into or executed before the adoption of this Constitution to the Com¬ 
monwealth of Virginia, the State of West Virginia, or to any public 
officer, corporation, township, or county, shall remain binding and 
valid ; and all rights and liabilities growing out of them, shall be un¬ 
impaired. 

20. The Executive Department of the government shall remain as 
at present organized, and the Governor shall continue in office until a 
Governor elected under this Constitution shall be qualified; and all 
other persons in office when this Constitution is adopted, except as 
herein otherwise expressly directed, shall continue in office until 
their successors are qualified; and vacancies in office, happening be¬ 
fore such qualification, shall be filled in the manner now prescribed 
by law. 

21. All the courts of justice now existing shall continue with their 
present jurisdiction, and be held as now prescribed by law, until the 
judicial system established by this Constitution shall go into effect, 
and all rights, prosecutions, actions,claims and contracts shall remain 
and continue, as if this Constitution had not been adopted, except so 
far as the same may be affected by the terms and provisions of this 
Constitution, when it shall go into effect. 

22. The Legislature shall pass all laws necessary to carry this Con¬ 
stitution into full operation and effect. 

23. At the time of the submission of this Constitution to a vote of 
the people, there shall be submitted as a separate proposition the 
following: 

“Any white citizen entitled to vote, and no other, may be elected 
or appointed to any office; but the Governor and Judges must have 
attained the age of thirty, and the Attorney General and Senators 
the age of twenty-five years, at the beginning of their respective 
terms of service; and must have been citizens of the State for five 
years next preceding their election, or appointment, or citizens at 
the time this Constitution goes into operation.” 

And the mode of voting on the said proposition shall be by ballot, 
on which shall be written or printed the word, “white;” aud if a ma¬ 
jority of all the votes cast for ratification and rejection of the Consti¬ 
tution be in favor of the said proposition, it shall take the place of 
section four of Article fourth, of this Constitution. The result of the 
said election shall be certified and ascertained in the same manner 
7 


50 


CONSTITUTION. 


and by the same officers as hereinbefore provided in regard to the 
election for ratification or rejection of this Constitution. And if the 
result be in favor of the said proposition, the Governor shall make 
proclamation of the effect thereof, as hereinbefore provided. 


The foregoing is a true copy of the Constitution and Schedule 
passed at Charleston this 9th day of April, A. D. 1872. 

SAMUEL PRICE, 

President of Convention. 




AMENDMENTS. 


FIRST AMENDMENT. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 

1. The judicial power of the State shall be vested in a Supreme 
Court of Appeals, in Circuit Courts, and the Judges thereof, in such 
inferior tribunals as are herein authorized, and in Justices of the 
Peace. 


SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS. 

2. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall consist of four Judges, any 
three of whom shall be a> quorum for the transaction of business. 
They shall be elected'by the voters of the State, and hold their office 
for the term of twelve years, unless sooner removed in the manner 
prescribed by this Constitution, except that the Judges in office when 
this article takes effect shall remain therein until the expiration of 
their present term of office. 

3. It shall have original jurisdiction in cases of habeas corpus , man¬ 
damus and prohibition. It shall have appellate jurisdiction in civil 
cases where the matter in controversy, exclusive of costs, is of greater 
value or amount than one hundred dollars ; in controversies con¬ 
cerning the title or boundaries of land, the probate of wills, the ap¬ 
pointment or qualification of a personal representative, guardian, 
committee or curator; or concerning a mill, road, way, ferry or 
landing; or the right of a corporation or county to levy tolls or tax¬ 
es, and also in cases of quo warranto, habeas corpus, mandamus, certiorari 
and prohibition, and, in cases involving freedom or the constitution¬ 
ality of a law. It shall have appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases 
where there has been a conviction for felony or misdemeanor in a Cir¬ 
cuit Court, and where a conviction has been had in any inferior court 



52 


CONSTITUTION. 


and been affirmed in a Circuit Court, and in cases relating to the public 
revenue, the right of appeal shall belong to the State as well as the de¬ 
fendant, and such other appellate jurisdiction, in both civil and crimi¬ 
nal cases, as may be prescribed by law. 

4. No decision rendered by the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be 
considered as binding authority upon any of the inferior courts of this 
State, except in the particular case decided, unless such decision is 
concurred in by at least three judges of said court. 

5. When a judgment or decree is reversed or affirmed by the Su¬ 
preme Court of Appeals, every point fairly arising upon the record of 
the case shall be considered and decided; and the reasons therefor shall 
be concisely stated in writing, and preserved with the record of the 
case ; and it shall be the duty of the court to prepare a syllabus of the 
points adjudicated in each case concurred in by three of the judges 
thereof, which shall be prefixed to the published report of the case. 

6. A writ of error, supersedeas or appeal shall be allowed only by the 
Supreme Court of Appeals or a judge thereof, upon a petition assign¬ 
ing error in the judgment or proceedings of the inferior court, and 
then only after said court or judges shall have examined and consid¬ 
ered the record and assignment of errors, and is satisfied that there is 
error in the same, or that it presents a point proper for the considera¬ 
tion of the Supreme Court of Appeals. 

7. If from any cause a vacancy shall occur in the Supreme Court of 
Appeals, the Governor shall issue a writ of election to fill such vacancy 
at the next general election for the residue of the term ; and in the 
meantime he shall fill such vacancy by appointment until a judge is 
elected and qualified. But if the unexpired term be less than two 
years the Governor shall fill such vacancy by appointment for the un- 
expered term. 

8. The officers of the Supreme Court of Appeals, except the re¬ 
porter, shall be appointed by the court, or, in vacation by the judges 
thereof, with power ol removal; their duties and compensation shall 
be prescribed by law. 

9. There shall be at least two terms of the Supreme Court of Ap¬ 
peals held annually, at such times and places as may be prescribed 
by law. 

CIRCUIT COURTS. 

10. The State shall be divided into thirteen circuits. For the cir¬ 
cuit hereinafter called the first, two judges shall be elected, and for 




CONSTITUTION. 


53 


each of the other circuits one judge shall be elected by the voters 
thereof. Each of the judges so elected shall hold his office for the 
term of eight years, unless sooner removed in the manner prescribed 
in this Constitution. The judges of the circuit courts in office when 
this article takes effect shall remain therein until the expiration of the 
term for which they have been elected in the circuits in which they 
may respectively reside, unless sooner removed as aforesaid. A va¬ 
cancy in the office of a judge of the circuit court shall be filled in the 
same manner as is provided for in any case of a vacancy in the office 
of a judge of the supreme court of appeals. During his continuance 
in office the judge of a circuit court shall reside in the circuit of which 
he is judge. The business of the first circuit may be apportioned be¬ 
tween the judges thereof, and such judges may hold courts in the same 
county or in different counties within the circuit at the same time or 
at different times, as may be prescribed by law. 

11. A Circuit Court shall be held in every county in the State at 
least three times in each year, and provisions may be made by law for 
bolding special terms of said court. A judge of any circuit may 
hold the courts in another circuit. 

12. The Circuit Court shall have the supervision and control of all 
proceedings before justices and other inferior tribunals, by mandamus, 
prohibition and certiorari. They shall except in cases confined ex¬ 
clusively by this Constitution to some other tribunal, have original 
and general jurisdiction of all matters at law where the amount in 
controversy exclusive of interest, exceeds fifty dollars ; of all cases of 
habeas corpus, mandamus, quo warranto and prohibition ; and all cases 
in equity, and of all crimes and misdemeanors. They shall have ap¬ 
pellate jurisdiction in all cases, civil and criminal, where an appeal, 
writ of error or supersedeas may be allowed to the judgment or pro¬ 
ceedings of any inferior tribunal. They shall also have such other 
jurisdiction, whether supervisory, original, appellate, or concurrent, 
as is or may be prescribed by law. 

13. Until otherwise provided by law, the State shall be divided into 
the following circuits: The counties of Brooke, Hancock, Ohio and 
Marshall shall constitute the first circuit; the counties of Monongalia, 
Marion and Harrison, the second; the counties of Preston, Taylor, Bar¬ 
bour, Tucker and Randolph, the third ; the counties of Wetzel, Tyler, 
Ritchie and Doddridge, the fourth; the counties of Wood, Wirt, and 
Pleasants, the fifth ; the counties of Clay, Gilmer, Jackson, Roane and 
Calhoun, the sixth ; the counties of Putnam, Kanawha and Mason, the 
seventh; the counties of Cabell, Wayne, Lincoln and Logan, the 


54 


CONSTITUTION. 


eighth ; the counties of McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, Wyoming and 
Boone, the ninth; the counties of Greenbrier, Monroe, Summers, 
Fayette and Pocahontas, the tenth; the counties of Upshur, Lewis, 
Braxton, Nicholas and Webster, the eleventh ; the counties of Grant, 
Hardy, Hampshire, Mineral and Pendleton, the twelfth ; the counties 
of Jefferson, Berkeley and Morgan, the thirteenth. 

14. The Legislature may rearrange the circuits herein provided for 
at any session thereof next preceding any general election of the 
judges of said circuits, and after the year one thousand eight hundred 
and eighty-eight, may at any such session, increase or diminish the 
number thereof. 

15. The Legislature shall provide by law for holding regular and 
special terms of the circuit courts, where from any cause the judge 
shall fail to attend, or. if in attendance, cannot properly preside. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

16. All judges shall be commissioned by the Governor. The salary 
of a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be two thousand 
two hundred dollars per annum, and that of a Judge of the Circuit 
Court shall be one thousand eight hundred dollars; and each shall 
receive the same mileage as members of the Legislature. Provided , 
That Ohio county may pay an additional sum per annum to the 
Judges of the Circuit Court thereof; but such allowance shall not be 
increased or diminished during the term of office of the judges to 
whom it may have been made. No judge during his term of office 
shall practice the profession of law or hold any other office, appoint¬ 
ment or public trust, under this or any other government, and the 
acceptance thereof shall vacate his judicial office. Nor shall he dur¬ 
ing his continuance therein be eligible to any political office. 

17. Judges may be removed from office by a concurrent vote of 
both houses of the Legislature, when from age, disease, mental or 
bodily infirmity or intemperance, they are incapable of discharging 
the duties of their office. But two-thirds of all the members elected 
to each house must concur in such vote, and the cause of removal 
shall be entered upon the journal of each house. The Judge against 
whom the Legislature may be about to proceed shall receive notice 
thereof, accompanied with the cause alleged for his removal, at least 
twenty days before the day on which action is proposed to be taken 
therein. 

18. The voters of each county shall elect a clerk of the Circuit 







CONSTITUTION. 


55 


Court, whose term of office shall be six years ; his duties and compen¬ 
sation and the manner of removing him from office shall be prescribed 
by law; and when a vacancy shall occur in the office, the Circuit 
Court or the Judge thereof in vacation shall fill the same by appoint¬ 
ment until the next general election. In any case in respect to 
which the clerk shall be so situated as to make it improper for him 
to act, the said court‘shall appoint a clerk to act therein. The clerks 
of said courts in office when this article takes effect, shall remain 
therein for the term for which they were elected, unless sooner 
removed in the manner prescribed by law. 

19. The Legislature may establish courts of limited jurisdiction 
within any county, incorporated city, town or village, with the right 
of appeal to the Circuit Court, subject to such limitations as may be 
prescribed by law ; and all courts of limited jurisdiction heretofore 
established in any county, incorporated city, town or village, shall 
remain as at present constituted until otherwise provided by law. 
The Municipal Court of Wheeling shall continue in existence until 
otherwise provided by law, and said court and the Judge thereof 
shall exercise the powers and jurisdiction heretofore conferred upon 
them; and appeals in civil cases from said court shall lie directly to 
the Supreme Court of Appeals. 

20. No citizen of this State who aided or participated in the late 
war between the government of the United States and a part of the 
people thereof on either side, shall be liable in any proceeding, civil 
or criminal; nor shall his property be seized or sold under final pro¬ 
cess issued upon judgments or decrees heretofore rendered, or other- 
erwise, because of any act done in accordance with the usages of 
civilized warfare in the prosecution of said war. The Legislature 
shall provide by general laws, for giving full force and effect to this 
section. 

21. Such parts of the common law, and of the laws of this State as 
are in force when this article goes into operation, and are not repug¬ 
nant thereto, shall be and continue the law of the State until altered 
or repealed by the Legislature. All civil and criminal suits and pro¬ 
ceedings pending in the former Circuit Courts of this State, shall 
remain and be proceeded in before the Circuit Courts of the counties 
in which they were pending. 

COUNTY COURTS. 

22. There shall be in each county of the State a County Court, 
composed of three commissioners, and two of said commissioners 


56 


CONSTITUTION. 


shall be a quorum for the transaction of business. It shall hold four 
regular sessions in each year, at such times as may be fixed upon and 
entered of record by the said court. Provisions may be made by law 
for holding special sessions of said court. 

23. The commissioners shall be elected by the voters of the county, 
and hold their office for the term of six years, except that at the first 
meeting of said commissioners they shall designate, by lot or other¬ 
wise, in such manner as they may determine, one of their number, 
who shall hold his office for the term of two years, one for four years, 
and one for six years, so that one shall be elected every two years. 
But no two of said commissioners shall be elected from the same 
magisterial district. And if two or more persons residing in the 
same district shall receive the greater number of votes cast at. any 
election, then only the one of such persons receiving the highest 
number shall be declared elected, and the person living in another 
district, who shall receive the next highest number of votes, shall be 
declared elected. Said commissioners shall annually elect one of their 
number as president, and each shall receive 12 per day for his services 
in court, to be paid out of the county treasury. 

24. The County Courts through their clerks, shall have the custody 
of all deeds and other papers presented for record in their counties, 
and the same shall be preserved therein, or otherwise disposed of, as 
now is, or may be prescribed by law. They shall have jurisdiction 
in all matters of probate, the appointment and qualification of per¬ 
sonal representatives, guardians, committees, curators, and the settle¬ 
ment of their accounts, and in all matters relating to apprentices. 
They shall also, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law, 
have the superintendence and administration of the internal police 
and fiscal affairs of their counties, including the establishment and 
regulation of roads, ways, bridges, public landings, ferries and mills, 
with authority to lay and disburse the county levies. Provided , That 
no license for the sale of intoxicating liquors in any incorporated 
city, town or village, shall be granted without the consent of the 
municipal authorities thereof, first had and obtained. They shall, in 
all cases of contest, judge of the election, qualification and returns of 
their own members, and of all county and district officers, subject to 
such regulations, by appeal or otherwise, as may be prescribed by 
law. Such courts may exercise such other powers and perform such 
other duties, not of a judicial nature, as may be prescribed by law. 
And provision may be made, under such regulations as may be pre¬ 
scribed by law, for the probate of wills, and for the appointment and 
qualification of personal representatives, guardians, committees and 


CONSTITUTION. 


57 


curators during the recess of the regular sessions of the County 
Court. Such tribunals as have been heretofore established by the 
Legislature under and by virtue of the thirty-fourth section of the 
eighth Article of the Constitution of one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-two, for police and fiscal purposes, shall, until otherwise pro¬ 
vided by law, remain and continue as at present constituted in the 
counties in which they have been respectively established, and shall 
be and act as to police and fiscal matters in lieu of the County Court 
created by this Article until otherwise provided by law. And, until 
otherwise provided by law, such clerk as is mentioned in the twenty- 
sixth section of this article, shall exercise any powers and discharge 
any duties heretofore conferred on, or required of any court or tribu¬ 
nal established for judicial purposes under the said article and section 
of the Constitution of one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, 
or the clerk of said court or tribunal respectively, respecting the 
recording and preservation of deeds and other papers presented for 
record, matters of probate, the appointment and qualification of per¬ 
sonal representatives, guardians, committees, curators and the settle¬ 
ment of their accounts, and in all matters relating to apprentices. 

25. All actions, suits and proceedings not embraced in the next pre¬ 
ceding section, pending in a County Court when this article takes ef¬ 
fect, together with the records and papers pertaining thereto as well 
as all records and papers pertainidg to such actions, suits and 
proceedings, as have already been disposed of by said courts shall 
be transmitted to and filed with the clerk of the Circuit Court of 
the county to which office all process outstanding at the time this 
article goes into operation shall be returned ; and said clerk shall have 
the same power and shall perform the same duties in relation to such 
records, papers and proceedings as were vested in and required of the 
clerk of the County Court, on the day before this article shall take 
effect. All such actions, suits and proceedings so pending as afore¬ 
said, shall be docketed, proceeded in, tried, heard and determined in 
all respects by the Circuit Court, as if said suits and proceedings had 
originated in said court. 

26. The voters of each county shall elect a clerk of the County Court, 
whose term of office shall be six years. His duties and compensation, 
and the manner of his removal, shall be prescribed by law. But the 
clerks of said courts, now in office, shall remain therein for the term 
for which they have been elected, unless sooner removed therefrom, 
in the manner prescribed by law. 

27. Each county shall be laid off into districts, not less than three 
nor more than ten in number, and as nearly equal as may be in ter- 


58 


CONSTITUTION. 


ritory and population. There shall be elected in each district con¬ 
taining a population not exceeding twelve hundred, one justice ol the 
peace, and it the population exceeds that number, two such justices 
shall oe elected therein. Every justice shall reside in the district for 
which he was elected, and bold his office for term of four years, unless 
sooner removed in the manner prescribed by law. The districts as 
they now exist, shall remain till changed by the County Court. 

28. The civil jurisdiction of a justice of the peace shall extend to 
actions of assumpsit, debt, detinue and trover, if the amount claimed, 
exclusive of interest, does not exceed three hundred dollars. The 
jurisdiction of justices of the peace shall extend throughout their 
county ■ they shall be conservators of the peace, and have such juris¬ 
diction and power in criminal cases as may be prescribed by law. 
And justices of the peace shall have authority to take the acknowl¬ 
edgment of deeds and other writings, and administer oaths, and take 
and certify depositions. And the legislature may give to justices 
such additional civil jurisdiction and powers within their respective 
counties as may be deemed expedient, under such regulations and 
restrictions as may be prescribed by general law, except that in suits 
to recover money or damages their jurisdiction and powers shall in 
no case exceed three hundred dollars. Appeals shall be allowed from 
judgments of justices of the peace in such manner as may be pre¬ 
scribed by law. 

29. The Legislature shall upon the application of any county, re¬ 
form, alter or modify the County Court established by this article in 
such county, and in lieu thereof, with the assent of a majority of the 
voters of such county, voting at an election, create another tribunal 
for the transaction of the business required to be performed by the 
County Court created by this article; and in such case all the pro¬ 
visions of this article in relation to the County Court shall be appli¬ 
cable to the tribunal established in lieu of said court. And when 
such tribunal has been established, it shall continue to act in lieu of 
the County Court until otherwise provided by law. 

30. The office of commissioner and justice of peace shall be deemed 
incompatible. Vacancies in the office of commissioner, clerk of the 
County Court and justices of the peace shall be filled by the County 
Court of the county until the next general election. 


CONSTITUTION. 


59 


SECOND AMENDMENT. 

13. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy exceeds 
twenty dollars, exclusive ot interest and costs, the right of trial by 
jury, if required by either party, shall be preserved ; and in such suit 
before a justice, a jury may consist of six persons. No fact tried by 
a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any case than according to 
the rules of the common law. 


tHi&V 

r >. The g~ .isr-tl s ls* 3 v; an* m state Mii counvy 




U I f i 0 if i;‘ S # 

and of members of 

It ., icjgfs'U t.urt t 

s t i a i I 

be heid on 

the tu-rs ^y 04 xv. 

fcf L** U'O first 

„ ... ;> - i;.-V re •'*&-■ '■ •• 

!foadi*y 

1 -: N'ovsiBtoe 

r- a . uv It I C : ,; : ■ % 

v;o video by law 

f*S6 


%$rm of Bach off i^ra f &®t albeit#, bi appointed 
to fill a v&eaao.y., &h&li unless here!a otherwise 
provided, te^lu 6** too flxst d*y of J&Mary-; and of 
ths ameers of the legislature, m ifc* first oo'y ox 
Doe-sin^,r next s^(so%ddi,ng tfc£ir Eleciicmf 

to {i 11 vaoame 1 » b » sha ‘J1 b© to r thf ax pi r-«<$ tr m. 
Whom vao&aci^s oemz prior to any femoral el»«U»n # 
fho/- shall to tilled by appoint.merits, u< such mamasx- 
as im$ be? pretari oed or by general raw,, ?micb 

.» ; I X H such i m ■ 
general e loot ism as the person sr $ looted to fill 

.-J 

such vacancy shall m $aa lifted. 























































































